Senate Democrats’ strategy over the past four years has been to strike the right balance between protecting the state’s bottom line by leaving a healthy reserve on the one hand, and protecting Washington households’ bottom line by addressing checkbook issues such as housing, health care, education, and job creation on the other.

While a growing number of economists are saying that a national recession may begin this year, Senate Democrats have long been preparing for a potential economic downturn.

This policy brief is intended to put Senate Democrats’ budget strategy into a proper context, to be used in response to questions about the 2008 supplemental budget, growth of state spending and deficits projected for 2011. 

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