Early action budget bill passed committee with some changes

The House Ways and Means Committee met last night and passed SHB 1086, the early action savings bill for the current biennium. It passed out of committee by a vote of
16-11 on a straight party vote.

The committee made a number of changes made to the bill, including the following with fiscal impacts:

• Special Education Safety Net Change - This policy changes when special education funds are sent to districts (-$22 million)
• Basic Health Plan - Restores funding for two months for those clients that receive Medicaid match (+$7.2 million)
• Limited English Pathways (LEP) - Restores half of the funding for this program (+$1.5 million)
• Interpreters - Sets up two pilots to test technology-based alternatives to in-person interpreter services (+$200,000)
• Highly Capable Program - Restores funding for the entire program (+$7.1 million)
• Pediatric Interim Care - Restores funding (+$201,000)
• K-12 Compensation - Technical adjustment (-$14,000)
• Maternity Support Services from Children’s Services - Shifts $800,000 from Children’s Services to the MSS program – nets to zero
• Parent-to-Parent networks are funded - Shifts $75,000 from the residential rehabilitation centers - nets to zero
  

The net effect of these changes is to reduce General Fund-State funding for FY 2011 by an additional $5.7 million for a total of $222 million in cuts.

The following provisos were also adopted:

• Removes the requirement that the Department of Natural Resources must lease facilities in Eastern Washington to house aircraft, mechanics, and pilots used for forest fire prevention and suppression.
• Directs the Department of Early Learning to not adopt, enforce, or implement any rules or policies restricting eligibility below 175 percent of the federal poverty level for the Working Connections Child Care program effective January 31, 2011.

Next step? The bill will soon be up for a vote to the House floor.