Sen. Warnick 'disappointed' by governor's vetoes on budget

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed more than 20 sections of the 2016 supplemental budget Monday.

Many of the vetoed sections included money allocated for bills that did not pass. One of the sections he vetoed would have reduced funding to the State Auditor’s Office by $20 million.

Inslee also vetoed a section in which the Legislature removes funding from Public Works Assistance Account during the 2017-19 biennium. The account provides loans and grants for infrastructure projects in small communities such as improving water/sewer systems, roads and bridges.

“I really believe in the importance of this fund, its integrity” Inslee said at a press event. “I want to keep it robust and healthy.”

The overall impact of the vetoes on the budget is still being evaluated, according to Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake.

“Everybody’s trying to scramble to try and figure out what he did,” she said.

Warnick said the outlook will not be completed for about 30 days. She particularly expressed disappointment in the veto of the section regarding the Public Works Account.

“I agree we need to do something, but I don’t think this veto is what needed to be done,” she said.

Warnick said she agrees that the Legislature should find a way to fund the account, but said the veto removed around $154 million in savings.

Inslee called these savings a “gimmick” at the press event.

“We removed that gimmick but we now have the foundation for what we really need, which is a billion-dollar-plus investment in the education of our children,” he said.

Warnick said the vetoed section also included language that would provide a work group to determine how to fund the account. Warnick said she still plans on creating a work group.

“Whether it’s official or not now, I’m still going to try and figure out a way,” she said.

In her nearly 10 years in the Legislature, Warnick said she could not recall vetoes on a budget that made such an impact.

“I’ve never seen a governor, to this extent, throw us out of balance that far,” Warnick.

Asked about the budget being out of balance, Inslee said “If you’re worried about that issue, these are just specks of sand on a huge beach,” referring to the large education obligation the Legislature is mandated to fulfill next session.

David Schumacher, director of the office of financial management for the governor’s office, said the vetoes did not violate the four-year balanced budget law because that law does not apply in situations where the budget stabilization account is used, as it was this year.

Information about the vetoes and the budget can be found at www.governor.wa.gov.