The Washington State House kicks off the biennial budget battle this week, and if you're young, old, sick, poor, or of color, prepare to be fucked.

The budget wasn't out when The Stranger went to press, but sources in Olympia gave us a preview:

The bulk of state cuts will once again come from social services and education, because that's where the bulk of discretionary spending is—and with a $5.1 billion budget gap to close, it's gonna hurt. And bad.

First: 1,500 classroom teachers statewide—58 right here in Seattle? Gone... cut... kaput. Saving up for college? A third straight year of double-digit tuition hikes won't keep pace with double-digit funding reductions, resulting in a 3 to 5 percent net cut in state college and university budgets. "Students will be paying more and getting less," laments state representative Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle).

And then there's Basic Health, Washington's beleagured public option for those who can't afford anything else. There's some hope that it might not be totally shut down, if only to preserve some federal matching funds. But either way, tens of thousands of kids are about to be thrown out on their ass (and into the emergency room).

But hey, millionaires won't be asked to pay an income tax—voters saved that victimized class last year—so it's not all bad news, right?