Wash. braces for another drop in tax collections

OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers are bracing for a big drop in tax collections when the state’s chief economist delivers his new revenue forecast in Olympia. Gov. Chris Gregoire has already signed an executive order that will cut state spending across the board to help patch the hole left by lower tax collections. But officials are waiting for the new revenue numbers to determine just how deep those cuts will be. Gregoire says she expects the cuts to be more than 7 percent. That’s on top of the Legislature’s actions earlier this year to balance the budget by cutting some spending, raiding one-time funds and raising taxes. Forecaster Arun Raha and the rest of the Forecast Council are scheduled to meet today at 10 a.m.