Washington Governor Jay Inslee has been on a three-day road show to showcase his plans for education, transportation and climate change.
The Democrat plans to return to the Capitol [tomorrow] Thursday to formally unveil his proposed state budget for the next two years -- along with the taxes to pay for it.
It’s a long wish list. Inslee wants a more than $2 billion education package that includes new spending on pre-school and K-12. He also wants to continue a freeze on higher education tuition.
Other spending priorities for Inslee include union-negotiated pay hikes for state workers and money for voter-approved cost-of-living increases for teachers.
Inslee’s staff has said he will propose more than $1 billion in taxes and other revenue-generating measures to help pay for this spending. He’s already outlined a carbon cap-and-trade program that he says would raise $1 billion a year.
There is one thing Inslee is not proposing to fully fund -- at least for now. That’s the new voter-approved class-size measure that comes with a $2 billion price tag over the next two years.
