Watch: Gov. Jay Inslee spoke at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday on Washington state budget

Gov. Jay Inslee has scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday to give an update on the the state’s response to COVID-19 and its impact on the state budget.

The governor will be joined by David Schumacher, director of the state Office of Financial Management.

Earlier Wednesday, Inslee directed state agencies under his authority to cancel a scheduled 3 percent pay raise for many of the state’s highest-paid general government employees and to begin furloughs for most state employees.

Those moves came in response to a projection released Wednesday that said because of the COVID-19 pandemic, state general fund revenue could decline by $4.5 billion through the end of June 2021 and by $4.3 billion in the two-year budget that lawmakers will adopt next year.

This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 12:17 PM.