State Budget Director Quits, Takes Post At Evergreen

State budget director Ruta Fanning, one of Gov. Mike Lowry’s most respected appointees, is quitting to become vice president of The Evergreen State College.

Fanning is taking a salary cut of nearly $25,000 a year by stepping down as director of the Office of Financial Management. But she said she’s leaving on good terms with the governor.

“This is absolutely not bailing out on Mike Lowry,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “This governor has treated me with absolute respect and I have enjoyed this job.

“But it is a high burnout job. I tell friends that the OFM director’s job is an experience, not a career.”

Fanning, 50, has been one of the governor’s most popular cabinet officials and has close ties to the Legislature from her years on budget staff there. She will be the Olympia college’s top budget officer and will make $91,020 a year. She earns $115,823 with OFM.

She will make the switch on March 15, following the planned adjournment of the Legislature. The Lowry administration is closely watching lawmakers’ rewrite of the state budget and has insisted on a $500 million reserve.

Fanning also has been the governor’s top policy adviser, directing a staff of experts in natural resources, health, education and other areas.