As you are probably aware, the Governor signed a one month interim budget for the State on July 2. This interim budget expires on July 31, 2004 and we fully expect to have a permanent budget for the entire fiscal year by that date. Unfortunately we do not have answers for all the questions you may have at this time. We will attempt to keep you informed as the deliberations continue in the weeks ahead.

This budget has been called a “core services” budget because it allows us to continue to operate by paying salaries, paying contractors for projects that are already under way, and doing most of the things that we would do with a final budget.

The interim budget is a limited budget, however. There are some things that we will not be able to do until a final budget is passed—start new projects, buy office supplies, buy vehicles or equipment, etc. It is our intention to continue functioning as normally as possible. If there are problems, I would ask you to do two things:

Be patient. This is not quite business as usual, although we will make every effort to keep disruptions to a minimum. And,

Keep the lines of communication open. We will all get through this in a lot better shape if we take the time to ask and not automatically assume the worst.

Thank you