VETO MESSAGE ON HB 1418-S

                   May 19, 1997

To the Honorable Speaker and Members,

  The House of Representatives of the State of Washington

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     I am returning herewith, without my approval, Substitute House Bill No. 1418 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to eliminating the pooling of the resource management cost account and removing reference to agricultural college lands;"

     Substitute House Bill No. 1418 would bring state law into compliance with the federal Morrill Act by dedicating all of the revenue from the state agricultural college lands to this federally granted trust.  Currently, up to 25 percent of the revenue from these lands is deposited into the Resource Management Cost Account (RMCA) and are used by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to manage these lands.  Instead of using the RMCA, DNR would be directed to bill the state for its costs in managing these lands.  However, the final legislative budget did not provide any funding to pay for these costs.

     It is with great regret that I veto this legislation.  However, if this legislation were signed, DNR would not have any funding to carry out management of these trust lands.  Although I have vetoed this legislation I am committed to working with Washington State University, DNR, and the legislature to develop a long-term funding source for managing the agricultural college trust.

     For this reason, I have vetoed Substitute House Bill No. 1418 in its entirety.

                   Respectfully submitted,

                   Gary Locke

                   Governor