Schools: Credit those who identified and fixed map mess

Re: “Inslee finds money for school map program,” (TNT, 6/16). A big round of applause to reporter Melissa Santos, the News Tribune and Gov. Jay Inslee for identifying and quickly solving the mistake (ineptitude) of the Republican budget writers and Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond. The funding for the vitally important Critical Incident Planning and Mapping System, which is used by Washington first responders to assist in possible life-and–death situations at Washington K-12 schools, apparently fell through the cracks in the current state budget. Oops.

Thanks to Sen. Hill for giving full and complete credit to Inslee and his staff in solving this crisis. Hill said he was “pleased Inslee stepped in to keep the program alive.” It was reported the lawmakers weren’t aware that failing to add money would result in the program being cut at the start of the new fiscal year.

Good government by the right people is about solutions and results, including ensuring that Washington school children are safe and first responders have the best tools to do their job. I believe this is just another example of why Inslee needs to be re-elected and keep solving the unforeseen problems that pop up.

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Schools: Credit those who identified and fixed map mess."