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  • Glenn Kuper, 360-902-7607

Tremendous turnout prompts venue changes

For Immediate Release: July 23, 2010

OLYMPIA � The first two state budget hearings have attracted such large turnouts that that the Office of Financial Management is moving the final two hearings to larger facilities.

The July 27 Vancouver hearing will now take place in Gaiser Hall at Clark College. The July 29 Spokane hearing has been moved to the auditorium of the Lair Student Center at Spokane Community College.

Hearings have already occurred in Tacoma, with approximately 450 people attending, and Everett, with an audience that approached 400.

The hearings are designed to help develop Gov. Chris Gregoire�s budget for 2011�13. A number of members of her Committee on Transforming Washington�s Budget, a panel of nearly three dozen leaders drawn from across the state from a number of fields, will be in attendance at the two remaining sessions. Committee and audience members will hear brief presentations from OFM on the six value areas in the budget. Citizen comment will follow.

Given the number of citizens expected to attend, those who offer testimony will be asked to limit their comments to two minutes to accommodate others who wish to speak. Written testimony will be accepted. Comment cards will be available for those who desire to provide input but do not want to speak.

OFM launched a website July 19 for those who wish to comment online or review ideas posted by others. The response has been voluminous � 14,700 visits by more than 10,448 visitors, 133,452 page views, 1,512 ideas posted, 2,324 comments and 74,000 votes on posted ideas.

Materials related to the hearings and the ideas site are available at http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/default.asp.

OFM has prepared a report on the new budget process, available at http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/budget/transformbudget.pdf.

The revised hearings schedule is as follows:

July 27
7�9 p.m.
Gaiser Hall
Clark College
1933 Fort Vancouver Way
Vancouver, Washington

July 29
5�7 p.m.
Spokane Community College
Lair Student Center
1810 N. Greene St.
Spokane