Forward Washington REFORM FIVE:

End the game-playing with programs that reach and protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Hard Facts:

• In his 2003 proposed budget, Governor Locke proposed deep cuts in services for some of our state's most vulnerable citizens.
• The Rossi budget found savings elsewhere so we could support the needs of persons with developmental disabilities.
• He restored funding for adult vision and dental programs-and made sure reductions in the number of people on the state-funded Basic Health Plan were achieved by rooting out fraud, not by blanket cuts.

Real people:

• Dan Thompson is a Microsoft employee with developmental disabilities. With the help of "supported employment," Dan has been working for Microsoft for 10 years, and he's really making a difference. But programs like "supported employment" get caught in the budget tug-of-war year after year.

Concrete solutions:

• When I become governor, our aging citizens, and those with different abilities, will not have to worry about whether they have a friend in the Governor's office. I have been their champion in the Legislature, and I will remain their champion.