Washington reckons with a budget shortfall that evokes painful memories of the Great Recession

 A dozen years later, the Great Recession still haunts Washington state lawmakers.

Democrats for years have pointed back to the budget cuts made after the 2008 economic downturn as the source of long-term damage to the state’s social-safety net, especially the mental health system.

Republicans have pointed to those same cuts as a cautionary tale about drastically increasing state spending too quickly, and then being forced to come back and make cuts later.

The coronavirus pandemic — which has battered economies across America and the world — has given new life and real meaning to those debates.