Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 3, 1998
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Governor signs budgets and remaining bills from 1998 legislative session

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today took action on the last of 375 bills approved by the 1998 Legislature, including a supplemental operating budget bill that redirects savings in some state programs to fund the new Washington Reading Corps and a major effort to begin restoring endangered salmon stocks.

He also approved modifications to separate budgets approved last year for transportation and capital-construction projects, along with measures to expand property-tax deferrals for senior citizens and simplify the state's business and occupation tax. All told, tax-reduction measures approved by the governor this year will save state taxpayers $24.7 million through June 30, 1999 and $71.1 million during the following two years.

After weeks of reviewing bills, Locke said he looks forward to putting the policies he advanced during the legislative session into action.

"We made some real progress on a number of important issues this year, including our efforts to improve student reading skills, address declining salmon runs, and crack down on drunk drivers," Locke said. "Now that the debate is over, I look forward to putting these new policies into action."

Locke said he plans to spend the coming months promoting community involvement in the new Washington Reading Corps, which will provide tutoring and individualized instruction for an estimated 27,000 elementary students most in need of help in meeting the state's new reading standards. The revised operating budget provides $8 million in support from the General Fund for this effort in kindergarten through grade six.

To support the first stage of the state's new salmon-recovery strategy, the legislature provided a total of nearly $36 million in the three separate supplemental budgets signed into law today. Those funds will be used to address barriers to fish passage, support local watershed management efforts, buy back commercial fishing licenses, support a new Salmon Recovery Office, and a variety of other measures.

Local governments will also receive a total of $10.6 million to help meet growing criminal justice costs - including $1.2 million to implement the tougher drunken driving laws approved this year.

Due to savings identified in the two-year budget approved last year, these and other new initiatives were funded without increasing the $19.1 billion General Fund-State (GF-S) expenditure level for the 1997-99 budget period. Locke noted that the supplemental budget will leave an estimated reserve of $811 million for the current budget period, building toward the target of approximately $1 billion established in Initiative 601.

However, he reiterated his concerns about the five-year financing plan for transportation developed by Republican leaders in the legislature that would reduce General Fund revenues by $469 million in the 1999-01 budget period if voters approve a referendum on the November ballot. Locke said that approach could jeopardize future funding for public education and other key services.

"I cannot support an approach that would incur 25 years of debt for five years worth of roadwork, require changes to Initiative 601, and reduce the state's future ability to fund education and other priorities," Locke said.

Because the bulk of the Republican transportation plan is contained in the referendum, Locke has limited power to affect it. He did, however, veto one section of Engrossed House Bill 2894 that would have authorized a $25 million loan from the General Fund to initiate preliminary work on transportation projects over the next year.

"The loan is really representative of the Republicans' whole approach to financing transportation," Locke said. "It relies on borrowed money, does not address the long-term issues, and comes at the expense of public education."

With some modifications, Locke signed a supplemental transportation budget for 1997-99 that includes $139 million to fund a variety of transportation projects from current revenue sources, plus $44 million for additional highway work if voters approve the referendum. He vetoed one section that would have redirected $10 million currently designed as a match for federal funds, and a subsection of the bill that would have limited the focus of a new panel created to study long-term options for transportation funding.

"The Republican leadership has acknowledged that their plan - even with their 25 years of borrowing - is a short-term fix at best," Locke said. "We need to get serious about long-term funding for our transportation system, and that means looking at all the options."

Locke used his veto pen sparingly in reviewing the operating budget passed by the state legislature, and not at all on the revised capital-construction budget signed into law today. The capital budget provides an additional $62.4 million for projects ranging from repairing fire damage at Lower Columbia College to decommissioning an inactive nuclear reactor at the University of Washington.

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