Brown’s Rainy Day fund bill clears state Senate

OLYMPIA – Comparing it to a savings account one can turn to in tough financial times, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, today led passage of a bill that would create a constitutionally mandated Rainy Day fund.

“Every family knows what it’s like to have a Rainy Day. You lose your job. You unexpectedly become responsible for caring for a loved one. Your car breaks down. And it’s comforting to have a savings account to turn to in these situations. That’s what we’re doing by passing this bill today: creating a savings account for when there is an economic downturn, which, though it’s hard to imagine right now, is inevitable,” Brown said.

Senate Joint Resolution 8206 would ask voters to amend the state constitution to establish a Budget Stabilization Account. Each fiscal year, 1 percent of general state revenues – or about $150 million – would be deposited into the account. That money could be tapped by a majority vote of each chamber of the Legislation if:

• Forecasted state employment growth for any fiscal year is less than 1 percent; or
• The governor declares an emergency resulting from a catastrophic natural disaster that requires immediate government action to protect life or public safety.

Brown remembered being chair of the Senate budget-writing committee after the economic downturn following Sept. 11, 2001.

“I wish we’d had a Rainy Day fund back then. It would have made the cuts less painful,” she said.

A recommendation of the bipartisan Bill Gates Sr. Washington State Tax Structure Committee, which Brown sat on, the mechanism is also backed by Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield, whom Brown thanked for all his work to bring the bill forward.

The bill passed 45-3 and now move to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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