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OLYMPIA — The governor’s budget office sent the Senate a lengthy list of concerns about the spending plan it rolled out on Wednesday, questioning cuts to social services as well as how much money the proposal assumes will be saved by making government more efficient.

The Republican-led Senate is expected to vote on the budget Friday afternoon.

Among the concerns cited by the state Office of Financial Management:

• Cuts to the Working Connections Child Care program.  OFM maintains the move would cut off subsidized childcare to 1,612 families per month over the next two years based on projected growth in caseloads.
• A proposal to reduce and, in some cases, eliminate cash assistance for the elderly and disabled. OFM notes the Senate budget says the people affected would be eligible for housing assistance but that their budget also cuts funding for that program, “which means more people will be served with fewer resources.”
• The Senate budget provides less funding than needed to keep the state park system running at current levels, which would “likely result in 10 to 20 temporary or permanent park closures.”
• How much the Senate budget relies on “presumed savings and under-expenditures.” Specifically, OFM notes the Senate budget counts on saving $157 million by making state government more efficient and also expects to get another $120 million in left over money from agencies that don’t spend everything they’re allowed to in the budget. “This degree of speculation creates a serious risk that budget reductions will translate into real cuts to agency services,” OFM wrote.

Gov.-elect Jay Inslee has appointed a veteran legislative budget writer to head the state Office of Financial Management.

David Schumacher, former staff director for the state Senate Ways and Means Committee, will be Inslee’s budget director.

He will replace Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget director, Stan Marshburn, who is retiring. Marshburn was filling in for Marty Brown, who left the job in August to become executive director of the state community- and technical-college system.

Schumacher spent the past two years as the Senate Ways and Means Committee staff director. He also held the same position from 2003 to 2008. In between he spent a couple of years as the Northwest government affairs director for Boeing.

Schumacher knows the state budget top to bottom and helped the Senate navigate the recession. “The Governor-Elect has given me clear direction to look for real, long-term solutions as we balance the budget and make state government more efficient,” Schumacher said in a statement.

Schumacher holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in economics from the University of Washington. He has worked as an economic analyst at the Department of Revenue, policy analyst at OFM, and was a Ways and Means Committee staffer for eight years before being named staff director.

Inslee is expected to make more announcements later this week regarding key posts in his administration.