To the Honorable President and Members,
The House of Representatives of the State of Washington

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am returning herewith, without my approval as to sections 2 and 3, Substitute House Bill No. 2648 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to the office of financial management;"

This bill adds a new section to the law governing budget instructions issued by the Office of Financial Management (OFM), and directs the Office of Community Development to assist in collecting capital budget information. The intent of the bill is to coordinate development of state facilities, and other capital infrastructure projects, with local jurisdictions at early stages of project planning. This is a goal I support.

Sections 2 and 3 of the bill would have required estimates of total capital project cost to include the cost of the raw land, any revenues in lieu of property taxes, and the cost of development in OFM-issued fiscal notes. These requirements would be premature within the fiscal note development process, and costly to estimate for both the state and local government.

For these reasons, I have vetoed sections 2 and 3 of Substitute House Bill No. 2648.

With the exception of sections 2 and 3, Substitute House Bill No. 2648 is approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary Locke
Governor