House GOP Budget Adds $550 Million To Education - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

House GOP Budget Adds $550 Million To Education

Posted: Updated:

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A budget developed by House Republicans would add about $550 million to K-12 education in Washington state. 

Republican Rep. Gary Alexander unveiled the proposal Thursday afternoon, saying the state can balance the budget without new tax increases. 

Alexander's plan includes adding about $800 million to education in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that says the state isn't adequately funding basic education. However, his budget plan would also suspend automatic cost-of-living increases for teachers, saving some $300 million. 

Some lawmakers have argued that the state needs to add some $1 billion to education this year in order to satisfy the Supreme Court. 

The spending plan for the next two-year cycle would separately cut state agency budgets by 2 percent. It embraces projected state savings that come with President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

  • Most Popular StoriesMost Popular Stories

  • Tuesday, May 21 2013 3:46 PM EDT2013-05-21 19:46:46 GMT
    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The father of an 8-year-old Oklahoma boy says a teacher saved his son's life as a tornado tore into their school yesterday.
    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The father of an 8-year-old Oklahoma boy says a teacher saved his son's life as a tornado tore into their school yesterday.

  • Tuesday, May 21 2013 1:43 PM EDT2013-05-21 17:43:51 GMT
    BREAKING NEWS - The Medical Examiner's Office has revised the death toll in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado from 91 people to at least 24 people.
    UPDATE: Originally the death toll was reported to be 91 people and counting, however, the Medical examiner's office revised the death toll from the Oklahoma tornado to at least 24 people. A spokeswoman said Tuesday morning that she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm.

  • Tuesday, May 21 2013 3:31 PM EDT2013-05-21 19:31:19 GMT
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Wind, humidity and rainfall combined precisely to create the massive killer tornado in Moore, Okla.
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Wind, humidity and rainfall combined precisely to create the massive killer tornado in Moore, Okla. And when they did, the awesome amount of energy released over that city dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. Meteorologists contacted by The Associated Press used real time measurements to calculate the energy released during the storm's life span of almost an hour.