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| Policy
Watch |
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| February
22, 2001 |
| by
Nancy Amidei |
Just in case you think legislators go to Olympia
and sit around all day, consider this.
In the first six weeks of the 2001 session,
1,063 bills were introduced in the Senate,
and 1,133 bills had been introduced in the
House of Representatives. (About half of those
are Senate and House versions of the same
bill). To survive, bills must be heard, taken
up in Executive Session, and voted out of
their respective policy committees by February
27 (House) and February 28 (Senate). If a
bill you care about is not scheduled for action
in Week Seven, call the relevant Committee
members and urge them to take action.
Long-term Care: Two bills to improve the
quality of long-term care provided by the
state (HB 1637 and HB 1576) as well as two
bills aimed at ensuring affordable prescription
drugs (HB 1319 and SB 5026) remain in committee
with no scheduled action.
Childcare: A bill to begin a comprehensive,
research-based plan to expand childcare services
to homeless families and opportunities for
parents, SB 5536, has yet to be heard in the
Senate Human Services and Correction committee.
State Schools Superintendent Teresa Bergeson
requested $1.7 million in the state budget
to help schools pay for breakfast for low-income
children.
Civil Rights: A bill to expand the jurisdiction
of the Human Right Commission to include sexual
orientation discrimination has no action scheduled.
Disabilities: A joint bill to continue
health care coverage and support services
for people with disabilities (HB 1390/SB 5423)
has no action scheduled in the house, and
has yet to leave the Senate Ways and Means
Committee. HB 1513, which would provide funding
to DSHS to help special education graduates
become gainfully employed has no action scheduled.
Housing/Homelessness: SB 5784 would return
to tenants their money from interest on their
deposits; this bill could be heard in Executive
Session. However, a number of bills designed
to raise the Real Estate Excise Tax to help
local governments create more housing (HB
1790/SB 5659, SB 5918) have yet to make it
out of committee.
Housing Trust Fund: The state's Housing
Trust Fund has a solid record of creating
and preserving low-income housing. Tens of
thousands of families have benefited from
the Trust Fund in the past decade; more than
$1.2 billion in additional funds have been
leveraged. For every $1 of trust fund money,
another $4 are raised from other lenders.
The Governor's proposed budget cuts the Housing
Trust Fund from its current level of $78 million
to just $63 million. Additional funds would
create or preserve homes for nearly 1,400
households.
Mental Health: SB 5271, which would require
health carriers to cover, pay for, contract
for, or reimburse for diagnosis and treatment
of a broad range of mental disorders, has
no action scheduled.
Welfare: The Wheels to Work bill to create
a transportation system for TANF recipients,
SB 5031, has no action scheduled but is eligible
for a possible Executive Session next week.
HB 1144, allowing new mothers to be exempt
from the work requirements in WorkFirst until
their youngest child is one year old, has
not left the House Committee on Children and
Family Services and has nothing scheduled.
Budget: Among the human services programs
slated for elimination in the budget proposed
by the Governor are the education for people
recovering from substance abuse, adult dental
care and vision services, and 450 beds in
state hospitals for mentally ill people.
Information on these and other matters can
be tracked on various state web sites, such
as the state legislature's web site: http://www.leg.wa.gov.
Nancy Amidei is on the faculty of the
University of Washington School of Social
Work. Olympia Watch is adapted from Policy
Watch, Amidei's weekly bulletin about legislative
issues and events available at the School
of Social Work web site (http://weber.u.washington.edu/~sswweb/).
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