VETO MESSAGE ON SB 5511-S

                   May 7, 1997

To the Honorable President and Members,

  The Senate of the State of Washington

Ladies and Gentlemen:

     I am returning herewith, without my approval as to section 3, Substitute Senate Bill No. 5511 entitled:

"AN ACT Relating to child abuse and neglect information;"

     Section 3 of SSB 5511 would have required the Department of Social and Health Services to report annually to the legislature on the number of reports of child abuse or neglect determined to be unfounded, and the percentage of unfounded reports compared to the total number of reports received by the Department, and the number of files or reports from which unfounded information was purged.

     As part of my quality improvement efforts, I have undertaken to review our statutes for all reporting requirements and to rid state government of unnecessary reports and paperwork.  It would be contrary to that effort to pass into law yet another unnecessary report. 

     For this reason, I have vetoed section 3 of Substitute Senate Bill No. 5511.

     With the exception of section 3, I am approving Substitute Senate Bill No. 5511.

                   Respectfully submitted,

                   Gary Locke

                   Governor