Locke: "Hold us accountable" . . . if you can.
Locke vetoes performance audits

Olympia, WA - June 28, 2001 - Governor Locke signed the legislature's two-year, $22.8 billion budget on Tuesday, June 26th, but vetoed all attempts to hold state government
accountable for efficient spending of taxpayer money.

Locke vetoed a provision in a transportation funding bill (SB 5327) that
would have outlined performance-based budgeting requirements for state
transportation agencies.

The governor also vetoed a provision in the Senate budget bill (SB 6153)
that called for allowing the State Auditor to conduct three performance
audits of state agencies so lawmakers can decide if further audits are
merited.  Washington is the only state in the nation that does not allow its
State Auditor to conduct performance audits.

Locke claims he vetoed the accountability measures because performance-based
audit procedures are already in place.  In reality, State Auditor Brian
Sonntag - the people's elected government watchdog - has his hands tied.
Sonntag is not permitted to conduct any performance audits without the
approval of both the legislature and the governor.  As a result,
comprehensive performance audits are rare.

The majority of the state's 147 elected representatives have just called for
performance-based audits in this budget, but Governor Locke says "No."

"Legislators wrote a budget that included more money and more
accountability," said Bob Williams, president of the Olympia-based Evergreen
Freedom Foundation.  "The governor has taken the money and dropped the
accountability."

Locke claims he will make the Department of Transportation as efficient as
it can be.  But, Williams notes, "Governor Locke can say anything he wants
because he has made it impossible for citizens to check his work."

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Evergreen Freedom Foundation
A Non-Profit Public Policy Research Organization
P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507
--------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2001

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director
(360) 956-3482

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