Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 3, 2003
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Gov. Gary Locke Pledges Support for Pending Legislative Budget

OLYMPIA – June 3, 2003 – Gov. Gary Locke today issued the following statement on the budget agreement reached by the Legislature’s top budget writers:

“I met today with Rep. Helen Sommers and Sen. Dino Rossi and thanked them for their hard work on the two-year General Fund operating budget. This has been a tough undertaking that began last fall with our Priorities of Government budget.

“The spending the budget negotiators propose rightly requires us to live within our means. The agreement they reached followed our process and took care of our state’s top priorities and protected our most vulnerable citizens.

“The budget leaders made difficult but realistic and sensible compromises. They made hard decisions without gimmicks. I applaud their efforts. I urge the Legislature to appoint a conference committee tomorrow and pass this compromise budget as quickly as possible.

“There are several other key issues that need to be addressed before Tuesday, including water, prescription drug and education reform bills as well as reforms to our unemployment insurance and workers’ compensations systems that can help the state’s bid to win the Boeing 7E7 final assembly and thousands of jobs. I urge legislators to get to work on these efforts as soon as the budget is adopted.”

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