Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed the Legislature’s $360 million plan for emergency budget cuts to help the state weather the next four months.  She vetoed the plan for a 3 percent pay cut for non-union state employees and a $1 million reduction in executive branch communications staff.

The compromise budget proposal sped through both houses on Friday and the bill was rushed to the waited governor for action.  She hailed the “collaborative and bipartisan” approach to dealing with the huge tide of red ink as the state’s economic recovery continues to lag.

The budget measure largely focuses on cuts in the biggest sectors of the budget, K-12, higher education and various social and health services.

Lawmakers still have not entirely balanced the current Fiscal Year budget, and are already at work on the new two-year budget that must be ready in time for the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.  The 3 percent salary cut, for all groups of state workers, remains a part of the governor’s proposal.