Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has a blunt warning for state lawmakers:
“Your bills are going to get vetoed if you don’t do your job and pass a budget.”
Inslee made that threat Monday in an effort to push the House and Senate to a budget compromise. The current 60-day session ends on Thursday.
“They are way, way short of a pace that they need to obtain if they’re going to get a budget deal to my desk by midnight Thursday,” the governor said. “So they need to pick up that pace substantially.”
House Democrats and Senate Republicans are struggling to agree on an update to the state’s two-year operating budget.
Inslee said if lawmakers miss the Thursday deadline he’ll start vetoing the 35 bills they’ve already passed. He would also immediately call them back into special session to continue working on a budget deal.
