Gov. Gregoire signs budget to build a better future for Washington families

For Immediate Release: April 1, 2008

Progress for Washington � Leading the Way

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today signed the 2008 supplemental budget, investing to protect the safety of Washington families and grow our economy while leaving significant savings for future needs.

�The budget I am signing today makes the right investments for Washington families,� Gregoire said. �We improve community safety, enhance our children�s education, build healthier families and secure our economic future.�

The budget leaves a total of $850.1 million in savings, with $446 in the constitutionally protected rainy day fund and $404.1 million in unobligated revenue.

�I appreciate the work the Legislature did to send me a budget with $835 million in reserve,� Gregoire said. �I then combed carefully through the budget and used my veto pen to trim another $15.1 million. This is one of the largest supplemental budget surpluses in state history and it will help us meet future needs at a time when about 30 other states face deficits. We are the envy of many states across the nation.�

Governor Gregoire�s budget will:

• Make our communities safer by continuing Operation Crackdown, the governor�s statewide effort to hold offenders accountable to the full extent of the law by increasing in-person verification of sex offenders� locations, developing a unified sex offender registry program and providing additional support for neighborhood partnerships with the state Department of Corrections.


• Increase patient safety through stronger licensing and disciplinary standards for all health care providers and the availability of real-time information for doctors and pharmacists to help reduce medication errors.


• Increase economic security and protect our environment by making water available for people, farms and fish; and by implementing a climate change framework that includes green collar jobs.


• Keep our vulnerable kids safe by speeding up the hiring of new staff so that face-to-face visits with children in the state�s care will be made every 30 days. Front-end assessments of high-risk or complex Child Protective Services cases will provide additional information on family safety and risk factors to identify cases that might otherwise slip through the cracks.


• Improve education by increasing salaries for Washington teachers, providing additional support and assistance for students not on track to meet state or local high school graduation requirements, addressing the achievement gap, and improving career and technical education.


• Help Washingtonians find or keep their homes by offering education and counseling, adding protections for homeowners, helping low- to moderate-income people purchase a home and expanding the Housing Trust Fund and the Washington Families Fund.

�When I took office in January 2005, I inherited a $2.2 billion shortfall that was expected to grow to $5 billion by 2009,� Gregoire said. �We attacked this deficit with a sharp pencil and good management practices. And we made important strategic investments. Now is the time to sustain these investments in our communities and grow Washington�s economy.�

Gregoire also signed a supplemental capital budget that authorizes $277 million in construction projects to meet important community needs throughout the state. The supplemental capital construction program will support more than 1,100 jobs a year over the next four years.

�This is the kind of economic stimulus that really works,� Gregoire said. �We need policies that generate paychecks � not a single check.�

For more information about Gov. Gregoire�s 2008 legislative session accomplishments, please visit: www.governor.wa.gov/news/2008-04-01_LegAccomplishments.pdf.

For county specific budget information, please visit: www.governor.wa.gov/news/2008-04-01_CountyBriefs.pdf.