Washington Governor Vetoes $1.5 Million Disaster Fund Cut

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has vetoed a proposed cut of $1.5 million to Washington state’s disaster response fund.

This decision was on a list of vetoes applied to the supplement state budget approved by lawmakers earlier this year.

Most of the other vetoes were technical fixes, but the governor also saved $20 million for the Life Sciences Discovery Fund, which makes grants for scientific research.

He said that the cut to the disaster response fund no longer makes sense because of expenses related to the Oso landslide.

Earlier in the year, state officials thought they could safely cut the fund during fiscal 2015. But the governor now believes the mudslide response, which involves numerous state agencies, will likely eliminate any excess money in the account.