Oregon Public Broadcasting

The down economy is still battering Washington tax collections. The state's September revenue forecast out Thursday predicts a drop of nearly $800 million through June of next year.

That means Governor Chris Gregoire will order 6-percent across-the-board cuts.

To use a boating analogy: the sails are luffing on Washington's economic recovery. Here's economic and revenue forecaster Arun Raha.

Arun Raha: "Job growth remains anemic, housing is looking for a new bottom, there is still considerable drag in the economy."

That means Raha is forecasting a steep drop in state revenues over the next two-and-a-half years.

In the short-term that puts Washington's current budget upside down to the tune of half-a-billion dollars.

That's why Gregoire is responding with a six percent reduction in state government spending. Her budget director Marty Brown calls the cuts "ugly."

Marty Brown: "Obviously the biggest cuts will be in social services because we exempt basic education, we exempt pensions, we exempt debt services. Corrections is probably the next biggest area."

Republican legislative leaders are once again calling on majority Democrats to call a special session in October to make more targeted cuts. But that idea appears dead on arrival.