Economic update: state budget down another $760 million

The Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released updated revenue forecasts for the 2009-11 biennium. The news is not good. Revuenes are down an additional $760 million from September’s forecast. What does that mean? In short, the state is facing a $2.55 billion deficit. The 2009-11 budget passed in April included $31.39 billion worth of expenditures. The revenue forecast today put collections for 2009-11 at $28.84 billion. So, $31.39 billion minus $28.84 billion is $2.55 billion. And that $2.55 billion needs to be trimmed during the 2010 legislative session. Yikes!