OLYMPIA— The Association of Washington Business issued the following statement regarding Gov. Gregoire’s proposed budget cuts and call for special session:

“Gov. Gregoire’s announcement Thursday further underscores the gravity of our state’s budget troubles and amplifies the importance of the decisions that lie ahead,” AWB President Don Brunell. “These are tough times, and the private sector shares in the governor’s concerns. Our hope is that lawmakers will again come together – as they did at the close of the previous special session — and work in a bipartisan way to solve our budget dilemmas.

Our members represent more than 7,600 predominantly small and medium-sized businesses. Like all of us, they also want to get this economy back on track. One of the best ways to prevent the kinds ofcuts the governor outlined to education, public safety and social services is to find new ways of creating private sector jobs, which provide the tax revenue for state programs. We look forward to working with the governor and lawmakers in the coming days and months to find solutions that jumpstart our economy and get Washington working again.”

About the Association of Washington Business
Formed in 1904, the Association of Washington Business is Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association, and includes more than 7,600 members representing 650,000 employees. AWB serves as both the state’s chamber of commerce and the manufacturing and technology association. While its membership includes major employers like Boeing, Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, 90 percent of AWB members employ fewer than 100 people. More than half of AWB’s members employ fewer than 10. For more about AWB, visit http://www.awb.org/.

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