In another benefit from the Recovery Act, the Obama Administration has just announced $86 million in “financial relief” for Washington State.

That’s on top of the $435 million Gov. Gregoire is already expecting to get from the feds.

Which makes the state’s $2.8 billion budget shortfall suddenly look a little… well… shorter.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

13 replies on “Balancing Washington’s Budget Just Got $86 Million Easier”

  2. Those new revenues don’t even change the first digit of that shortfall. It’s throwing sponges at a flood. This problem needs a systemic fix. And not just here, but across the country. The system is deeply, deeply broken, and our leadership needs to face up to that and make serious recommendations that have a chance of solving these problems.

  4. #3: Like this state getting $86,000,000 for our state’s education, health care, and transportation, while the genocide in Afghanistan gets $598,700,000,000 this year to kill the remaining 45,000 Pashtun tribal Talibanis? That the president and congress could change the “8” in that genocide budget to a “5” and our state could have a huge budget surplus?

    Oh wait, you were talking about the gays.

  5. Of course it’s Obama’s fault- a foreign Muslim that hates America. You can tell he’s a fraud, he speaks in complete grammatical sentences.

  6. This slum heap state doesn’t have enough non-deadbeats to pay for the party any more so you Washington Welfarians have to cross borders to find some less savvy dolts to mug.

  7. @1 Great! indeed!!

    Education is important.
    Our children will thank us!

    Even if it meant borrowing $86 million from China that will have to be repaid at a cost of $174 million by our children (and grandchildren) over the next 30 years to pay their teachers this year.

    Our children know education is important.
    And will totally understand that we expect the little mooching bastards to pay for it themselves.
    Starting now…

  8. Will in Seattle is satisfied by the smallest of crumbs, so long as its a Democrat tossing the crumbs. If Hitler was a Democrat, Will would say “hey, at least he didn’t kill 7 million Jews.” Will in Seattle is the perfect example of a Democratic Party foot soldier who thinks “my party, right or wrong!”

  12. @13 – that requires action by the House and Senate. The Governor doesn’t even get to weigh in on it, so there is no way she would ever seriously propose it.

    Just a simple majority vote in both chambers, too. For a flat one percent income tax with one exemption. Anything else requires a constitutional amendment.

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