Hang on! The budget slashing has started
AUBURN, Wash. - The nearly $9 billion state budget gap claimed on one of its first victims Friday as officials shut down the driver's license office in Auburn to save money.
The Auburn office is the first of 25 Department of Licensing branches to close over the next 18 months, shifting the workers to other sites at a savings of $1 million a year.
The closures are among many government service cuts to come in the months ahead - and more details are expected Monday from the state Legislature.
But in the meantime, the closure of the Department of Licensing branch in Auburn shows how much disruption the loss of just a single office can cause.
Some 60,000 people use the office every year - and many are not happy with the budget cut.
"There's a lot of people that come here," says Department of Licensing customer Deborah Perez. "I've been coming here for years, and my whole family comes here. That's not good, no."
While Perez and her family look for a new office, legislators ponder other cuts.
State colleges and universities will get hit hard, absorbing $500 million in cuts and cutting enrollments by 10,000.
"It's really unfortunate to have higher education access be reduced at a time when we're in a recession - when people really need higher education as the opportunity to their next job or their career," says Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.
But the cuts won't stop with higher education programs. Lawmakers say all programs are vulnerable, and anyone who gets services from the state will see cuts.
But legislators also want to hold on to some programs that were cut from the governor's proposed budget, such as the nurse home visit program.
"And so we're hoping that might be able to be preserved," says House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle. "But that's the kind of decisions we're making. These are very tough decisions on a wide variety of needs we have out there."
"Many members of the Senate Democrats believe the cuts are too deep and too much and they'll erode our quality of life in Washington state with good schools and safe communities," says Sen. Brown.
And that's why there's talk of raising taxes - so the cuts won't be so deep.
But that's going to be up to voters, who must approve any increase in state taxes.
So for now, lawmakers are going to be shutting programs - and shutting doors. And this Auburn office is the first to go.
The Auburn office is the first of 25 Department of Licensing branches to close over the next 18 months, shifting the workers to other sites at a savings of $1 million a year.
The closures are among many government service cuts to come in the months ahead - and more details are expected Monday from the state Legislature.
But in the meantime, the closure of the Department of Licensing branch in Auburn shows how much disruption the loss of just a single office can cause.
Some 60,000 people use the office every year - and many are not happy with the budget cut.
"There's a lot of people that come here," says Department of Licensing customer Deborah Perez. "I've been coming here for years, and my whole family comes here. That's not good, no."
While Perez and her family look for a new office, legislators ponder other cuts.
State colleges and universities will get hit hard, absorbing $500 million in cuts and cutting enrollments by 10,000.
"It's really unfortunate to have higher education access be reduced at a time when we're in a recession - when people really need higher education as the opportunity to their next job or their career," says Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.
But the cuts won't stop with higher education programs. Lawmakers say all programs are vulnerable, and anyone who gets services from the state will see cuts.
But legislators also want to hold on to some programs that were cut from the governor's proposed budget, such as the nurse home visit program.
"And so we're hoping that might be able to be preserved," says House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle. "But that's the kind of decisions we're making. These are very tough decisions on a wide variety of needs we have out there."
"Many members of the Senate Democrats believe the cuts are too deep and too much and they'll erode our quality of life in Washington state with good schools and safe communities," says Sen. Brown.
And that's why there's talk of raising taxes - so the cuts won't be so deep.
But that's going to be up to voters, who must approve any increase in state taxes.
So for now, lawmakers are going to be shutting programs - and shutting doors. And this Auburn office is the first to go.
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