Tagged: budget cuts

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the the Pentagon will propose a $33 billion cut in the military's budget, for the 2013 fiscal year.

The AP reports that will be achieved by reducing ground forces by 100,000 and by eliminating older aircraft.

The AP reports:

"Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tells a Pentagon news conference the administration will request a 2013 budget of $525 billion, plus another $88 billion for operations in Afghanistan. Combined, those totals are about $33 billion less than the Pentagon is spending this year.

"Panetta also says the Pentagon's budget will grow to $567 billion by 2017."

Update at 2:17 p.m. ET. Cuts Will Not Affect U.S. Ability Defeat Adversaries:

Teachers across the state plan to protest cuts to public schools on the first day of the legislature’s special session to shore up the budget.

Hundreds of educators will rally in Olympia on Monday, Nov. 28. Even more teachers will deliver their concerns virtually.

"...There are ideas out there other than cutting.”

College students will descend on Olympia today as the legislature kicks off a special session to tackle the state’s budget shortfall. Nearly a dozen schools have banded together to send busloads of students to the capitol. 

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington's largest state employee union says 'no' to higher health care premiums. Governor Chris Gregoire Wednesday asked the unions to reopen their labor contracts. The move comes on the eve of the governor's big budget cutting announcement scheduled for Thursday.

Washington has a $1.4 billion budget problem. Now the governor says she needs to negotiate another increase in what state employees pay for their health care.

State workers previously agreed to increase their share of insurance premiums from 12 percent to 15 percent. The Washington Federation of State Employees responds Gregoire should ask corporations — not state workers — to sacrifice.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state agencies are putting entire programs on the chopping block – including $65 million from UW and WSU – to satisfy a request by the governor for more budget savings.

On Thursday, Governor Chris Gregoire notified state lawmakers that she will call them back to Olympia on November 28th for a special budget cutting session to make the cuts.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray has debuted in her newest high profile role. The Washington Democrat co-chairs the so-called supercommittee on federal debt reduction. It held its first meeting today in Washington, DC., and Murray provided opening remarks.

This fall, the deficit cutting committee will recommend $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years.

If you've got books overdue at the Seattle public library don't worry. No fines will be charged this week while all the public libraries in the city are closed due to budget cuts.

Seattle libraries will reopen after Labor Day on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Washington State University is finalizing its plans to cut $40 million in the current biennium budget.

Washington State University President Elson Floyd says he’s never seen anything like it in his years in higher education— he’s referring to the loss of 52% of the university’s net state appropriation in the past four years. And about forty million dollars needs to be cut in the current budget cycle through 2013.

To help achieve that reduction, the university will cut $3.2 million from Academic Affairs but Floyd says they’ll spare academic programs.

Washington's litter hotline is no more. The toll free number to report people throwing trash out of their cars has fallen victim to state budget cuts.

This season of state budget cuts in Olympia was different than previous bad-budget years, not just in size and scope – but also because the Legislature eliminated many small programs rather than suspending them so they can be brought back online more easily in better times.

“That’s different,” said Marty Brown, director of Washington's Office of Financial Management.

The $4.6 billion in cuts that resulted in the state’s current $32 billion two-year budget contained many program eliminations that surprised even veteran budget wonks like Brown.