Governor Vetoes Retail Crime, Reading Programs in $80B Budget

0:00It's April 9th. Canada News Today starts now. AI-powered and ready. I'm Cory with the story. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson just signed a massive nearly $80 billion state budget running through mid-2027, but he drew. The line at two tiny grants totaling $800,000, one for a family reading program, and another to fight organized retail crime. To balance things amid a $2.3 billion shortfall, lawmakers slashed millions from child care and education while dipping into emergency reserves and Ferguson mostly rubber stamped the 623-page deal from his fellow Democrats. Lawmakers and groups hid back hard with representative Mari Levitt calling the retail crime veto deeply disappointing and short-sighted, saying it. Hurts neighborhoods, while Senator Annette Cleveland found the reading program, cut curious when kids' literacy is so fundamental. The governor's team explained that funding for the Primetime Family Reading Program had

1:01expired after its pilot wrapped up last June, and both vetoes. Freedom cash for core services amid tough fiscal choices. Plus, a separate task force already tackles big retail theft cases. Retail advocates hope to revive that funding by 2027, arguing these local efforts boost coordination and diversion to keep Washington from leading the nation in shoplifting woes as the budget drama simmers on.