Looks like basic accounting isn’t a top skill over at the Office of Financial Management. Thanks to a budgeting blunder, Washington’s community colleges are staring down the loss of $28.5 million—funds they’ve already spent on things like collective bargaining and new programs. The cause? A duplication of appropriations in the state budget. Now, the colleges are scrambling to avoid layoffs and cuts, while the state tries to fix its error. Turns out, asking for budget writers to avoid copy-paste errors might be a taller order than it seems. Read more at the Spokesman Review.

Boeing’s latest “best and final” offer to striking machinists includes a 30% wage bump, a $6,000 bonus, and a return of the AMPP bonus. But the union won’t even let its members vote on it, claiming it wasn’t “properly negotiated” and accusing Boeing of trying to sow division among workers. The union’s still holding out for a 40% raise and pensions – even though Boeing’s made it crystal clear that pensions are never coming back. While some workers are ready to take the deal and get back to work, the union leadership isn’t budging. Meanwhile, Boeing’s production of key planes is grinding to a halt, and the company’s cutting costs with unpaid furloughs and hiring freezes. Yet, the union continues to drag its feet, despite Boeing’s major concessions. At this rate, the only thing that appear to be flying out of Boeing’s factories is money. Read more at KIRO Radio.

As Shift WA previously reported, King County Executive Dow Constantine’s latest tax proposal is being pitched as a solution for funding public health clinics, but it seems more like a half-baked workaround. By tying the clinics to Harborview Medical Center, Constantine is essentially siphoning off funds that were meant for the hospital’s critical needs. Even Harborview officials aren’t thrilled, pointing out that the proposal diverts funding intended for their patients. So, while Constantine touts this as a fix to a budget shortfall, it comes at the expense of an essential trauma center. And let’s not forget, this will also slap homeowners with yet another tax increase—$75 more a year for the median-priced home in King County. Once again, perhaps the real problem isn’t a lack of taxes, but a lack of financial foresight from the county’s leadership. Read more at Center Square.

Seattle parents are understandably outraged over Superintendent Brent Jones’ plan to close 21 elementary schools, citing a $104 million budget shortfall. Despite the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) budget being larger than ever at $1.25 billion, a whopping 83% of it goes to employee salaries and benefits. The shortfall stems from Jones offering raises to teachers following a 2022 strike, without securing funds to cover them.

Now, as the Washington Policy Center points out, families are being asked to shoulder the gap. Notably, 2,605 SPS employees don’t work directly with children, raising questions about where the money is really going. Shifting to a public charter school model, as seen in New Orleans, would give parents more control over funding and cut bloated bureaucracies. And, of course, state representatives, senators, and the superintendent also share blame for not addressing these financial missteps and exploring alternatives to school closures. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

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