State envisions July shutdown as budget talks stall

The Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Top state officials have started preparing for a July government shutdown as lawmakers struggle to reach a budget compromise.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she held talks Monday with cabinet and financial management leaders about what would happen if there’s no spending plan by the time a new budget cycle begins in July.

She says she’s been discouraged by a lack of progress in budget negotiations in the Legislature and can’t recall a time that things have been so bogged down.

Office of Financial Management Director Marty Brown says a shutdown has never occurred in Washington state but would likely close all but some public safety and constitutionally-required operations.

Brown says lawmakers passed a budget on the last day of June in 1991.