Washington state will be receiving $583,000 from the Bridgestone/Firestone tire settlement. Doug Walsh, an assistant state attorney general said that Washington would use $250,000 of its settlement money to buy airtime for nationally produced TV spots to air locally in our state. He went on to say that most of the rest of the state’s share is earmarked for the state’s general fund.
I wonder what happens to funds when they are earmarked for the general fund. We usually have a hard time tracking where the money is being used. Why doesn’t the state consider using the funds where they can be observed and where we can measure the effectiveness of the investment?
Placing $333,000 into the general fund will not make a dent in our over-all state budget. If we really want to make an impact in our state, I suggest that the money be used to finance the efforts of driver education programs in our high schools. Some school programs have been eliminated because the state cut out some support last year.
This, I feel, will be a better investment of the money, will support our children and will reduce some automobile accidents in the future.
Lake Stevens
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