Funds For Fairs Not Included In Washington House Budget

The recently released Washington House Budget does not include funding for fairs across the Evergreen State.  In years past, a provision in the budget included $4 million for state fairs.  But, in this year’s budget, State Representative Mary Dye says that fair fund was completely zeroed out in the House Democrats Budget proposal.  Dye said this is bad news for rural Washington.

“We had a lot of debate on the floor, but the Democrats had a very specific vision for what they wanted to present as a budget.  So, very little of the Republican amendments were accepted, and the one that was voted down on party lines was to restore the funding for state fairs.”

Dye noted larger more populated areas will be hurt with these funds being removed.

"Like the Puyallup Fair, the Spokane Fair the Clark County Fair, the Yakima Fair, these are big events. They are good for tourism they are good for a lot of things beside the fact that they are part of community.”

Dye added this will also hurt students who participate in 4-H and FFA around the state that use the local fair as a way to make money with their livestock, art projects and much more.  Dye noted with the time left in the Washington legislative session, she will work to negotiate fair funds back into the budget.

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