CENTRALIA — Senate Republican Leader John Braun, Centralia, issued the following statement today in response to the Seattle Times report that the state has suspended a $292 million IT modernization project after more than a decade of failed progress:

“Suspending this project further exposes a long-standing problem with large state contracts – the chronic mismanagement of taxpayer dollars. That the dysfunction and incompetence of demonstrated here ever got this far without results or accountability is shameful. We have a culture of apathy, excuse-making, and blurred responsibility in our state government today, and this is just one example.

“If this had happened in the private sector, someone would’ve been fired years ago. Instead, we watched the price tag skyrocket and deadlines slip while agency leaders shrugged or got bogged down in power struggles and petty squabbles. That’s not public service — it’s public negligence.

Braun called for accountability for those responsible for overseeing, or hindering, the failed IT project and urged the development of a new oversight structure for large-scale state contracts.

“Washingtonians deserve better. We need a clear process where qualified project managers with real-world experience — not political appointees — are empowered to make decisions and stop waste before it spirals out of control. And this needs to extend beyond IT projects. This process should extend to all state agencies – including the Department of Transportation, which is constantly plagued with missed deadlines and blown budgets because no one provides serious oversight or enforces standards of performance.

“The upcoming 2026 Legislative Session provides an opportunity for the Legislature to rein in government waste and prove that we take our fiduciary responsibility to the people of Washington seriously. If the majority won’t sponsor legislation to hold those in charge more accountable, Republicans will.”