Sequester on your street corner

Last week, Senator Patty Murray visited with House Democrats and discussed some of the effects of sequester - the looming automatic cuts to the federal budget that will be triggered if Congress fails to strike a budget deal by March 1st.

This week, the White House released more detailed information on what these automatic cuts would mean for Washington state.

Among the low-lights:

• Washington will lose approximately $11,606,000 in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 160 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 11,000 fewer students would be served ad approximately 50 fewer schools would recieve funding.
• Washington will lose about $3,301,000 in environmental funding to ensure clean water and air quality...
• About 440 fewer low income students in Washington would recieve aid to help them finance the costs of college.
• In Washington, approximately 29,000 civilian Department of Defense employees would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by around $173.4 million in total.
• Washington will lose approximately $1,053,000 in funds that provides meals for seniors.

For the complete list of potential cuts, follow this link.

Read this story in Spanish.

Improving the system for adopted children

Do you remember the horrific story of Hana Williams, an adopted Ethiopian girl living in Sedro-Woolley? A couple of years ago her adoptive parents starved her, abused her, beat her repeatedly and left her outside on a cold night, which ultimately killed her.

What is wrong with the system and how do we fix it to ensure the safety and well-being of adopted children in our state?

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts believes we can do better, so she's sponsoring a bill to do things right before adoptions go through to ensure children are going to safe and caring homes.

Watch the powerful testimony at the bill's hearing in the Judiciary Committee yesterday:

 

Read the press release here.

Read this story in Spanish.

A solution looking for a problem

Rep. Ruth Kagi

As of last year, 19 states require drug testing or screening of applicants or recipients of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the cash assistance commonly referred to as "welfare."  Washington is not one of them.  Does this mean taxpayers are subsidizing drug habits in our state?

Actually, we have a pretty good system already in place to identify and address substance abuse issues in those who apply for TANF benefits.  Our caseworkers identify clients with potential substance abuse problems, and refer them for assessment and, if necessary, treatment.

These referrals are not simply polite suggestions.  Clients who refuse to participate in the assessment and/or treatment process are "sanctioned," which means their assistance is reduced by 40 percent.  At the end of the sanction period, if they still do not comply with treatment, they lose their assistance entirely.  In other words, our state can and does cut people off assistance if they have a substance abuse problem and do not get treatment.

In fact, last year an average of 2300 families were sanctioned per month, and around 3700 families each month completely lost state assistance.  Not all of these families were sanctioned or terminated due to substance abuse - these numbers include all reasons for reduction or loss of assistance, including not meeting job search requirements.  But it shows we're serious about ensuring people play by the rules.

Adding an actual drug test would only add cost and bureaucracy - neither of which is in the taxpayers' best interests.  And since the majority of TANF recipients are children or families with children, sanctions and terminations have a very real effect on child poverty in our state.  We already have over 27,000 homeless children in our schools. 

Last week, House Early Learning & Human Services Committee chair Rep. Ruth Kagi went on TVW's The Impact to discuss the issue of drug testing TANF recipients.  You can view the entire segment here, but she makes her main points in the clip below:



Read this story in Spanish.

Homeless student population now over 27,000

As of yesterday, there are 1,397 more reasons the “fund education first” plan isn’t as great as it may sound.

Washington state now has 1,397 more homeless students bringing the total to 27,390.

Those numbers come from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), who says homeless students increased by 5.1% increase compared to the 2010-11 school year.

Why the increase? Job loss, unforeseen illness, increased housing prices and foreclosures.

Here’s an excerpt from the OSPI news release:

Districts cite many reasons for the increase. The overall job market is still struggling, in addition to local economic factors, such as the closing of a paper mill in Everett and the decline of the logging industry in Shelton and elsewhere. More students are living on their own. And funding for services that help prevent homelessness is being cut.

In the proposed Fund Education First plan, how much funding would go towards:

• Job creation and worker retraining: $0
• Health care for low and middle-income families: $0
• Housing assistance: $0

Sick, hungry or homeless kids can’t learn.

Read this story in Spanish.

Grant will help fund mental health care for foster kids

You may have missed the news when it came out last month, but with renewed national focus on mental health issues in the wake of a tragic school shooting in Connecticut last Friday, we think it's worth posting.

Our state is the recipient of a federal grant that will help fund the enhancement of mental health services for children in our foster care system.

While the amount - $639,000 - may not seem very large, every dollar goes to improving the process for identifying children in need of such services, streamlining coordination between mental health professionals and child welfare workers, and increasing our state's capacity to deliver care to those kids who need it most.

Even better, there is the possibility that the grant will expand over the next four years.

Children who enter the foster care system are at a high risk for mental health problems due to abuse, severe neglect, and the trauma of being removed from their family homes.  Identifying those children who may have a mental health disorder and getting them the services they need - the sooner, the better - greatly improves their chances for a positive outcome.

Here is the press release from the Department of Social and Health Services, and here is a brief piece the Columbian newspaper published about the award.

Read this story in Spanish here.

A one-stop link for services

State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson and House Democrats proposed an exciting new idea in 2010—an “opportunity portal” to provide fast, efficient, one-stop access to a wide array of federal, state and local benefits that are available to Washington residents. The result was a new law and the nation-leading Washington Connection (www.washingtonconnection.org) portal.

An important milestone was reached yesterday when Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced that City of Seattle benefits and services can now be accessed through Washington Connection. He noted that it’s the “first partnership of its kind in the nation between a state and a large city.”

Thanks to Washington Connections, Washington residents can quickly learn about and apply for services and benefits that include food assistance, medical assistance, cash, education, veterans benefits, home care services, housing assistance and more. It is safe, secure and lightning fast.

Washington Connections is the best kind of public-private partnership. Thanks to state and local leaders and great partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, children, adults and families in Washington are getting help they need in record time.

Making government work faster and better for people is a leading priority of the HDC. Washington Connections shows how that leadership is helping residents and communities throughout our great state.

Want to learn more?  Take a look at Mayor Mike McGinn's press release and the Puget Sound Business Journal article: Gates Foundation helps fund centralized city/state public assistance website.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

What you can do to fight hunger

Nutrition is one of the basic necessities of life and yet one out of nine households in the United States struggles to put food on the table. Nearly one-fourth of those that go hungry in our country are children.

Not only do real families suffer due to lack of adequate nutrition, but the problem also has economic consequences. The Alliance to End Hunger reports that the U.S. spends more than $90 billion each year on direct and indirect costs associated with hunger. 

Food assistance programs like the Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) are key to fighting the battle against hunger. Through a partnership with U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OPSI) can reimburse some costs associated with providing meals to eligible programs and organizations that serve children and adults.

In 2010, the OSPI helped provide over 3 million meals to low-income children and families through organizations participating in the CACFP.

If you operate a child or adult day care center, an at-risk afterschool program, ECEAP or Head Start, or emergency shelter and are interested in applying for the program, contact Adele Roberts, Child Nutrition Services, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, P.O. Box 47200, Olympia, Washington 98504-7200.

If you or someone you know is in need of nutrition assistance, contact the Washington Basic Food Program at 1-877-501-2233.

To read this blog post in Spanish, click here.

New reforms will save $25 million

The demand for government services in our state has been on the rise, but we currently have fewer resources coming in to meet those demands. Since the 1930’s, our state has provided income and medical support to childless adults who cannot work due to a disability.

This program, now called Disability Lifeline, was meant to provide temporary assistance while helping people get on track to rehabilitation and re-entry into the workforce, as well as provide a bridge to permanent Social Security Income (SSI) benefits for those who qualified. The number of people receiving these benefits has grown by nearly 50 percent within the last four years. A third of these people are homeless, and most of the rest are near-homeless. More than a third of those helped—including many veterans—are mentally ill.

At the start of this year’s Legislative session, Disability Lifeline, previously referred to as the General Assistance Unemployable program, was in jeopardy, putting approximately 17,000 people with disabilities at risk of losing their basic financial and medical needs. Fortunately, the Legislature protected Disability Lifeline and implemented reforms that are expected to save approximately $25 million.

With Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson’s House Bill 2782, Disability Lifeline will continue to serve some of the most vulnerable populations in our state. Signed into law yesterday, HB 2782 creates new time limits and emphasizes faster transitions to employability or federally-funded SSI benefits within the Disability Lifeline program.

With the new time limits in the Disability Lifeline reforms, benefits are limited to 24 months in a 5-year period-begin Sept. 1 and will be retroactive. Now Disability Lifeline recipients must also participate in substance-abuse treatment or vocational rehabilitation, when appropriate. They will also have to accept housing vouchers in lieu of cash grants, when suitable housing is available. Expedited case reviews will hasten transitions to employability or SSI.

The Will of the People...

The "Will of the People" is a phrase with quite a lot of traction this legislative session. There are some who claim the will of the people, opposing the temporary suspension of I-960. Others believe the will of the people favors sustaining government services like including Health Care, Education, and Public Safety, especially through these tough economic times when families need them most.

As they did during Saturday's Finance hearing, the oft-invoked "people" showed up today in great numbers, overwhelmingly urging lawmakers to do whatever it takes to save those essential services. The enthusiastic crowd was a sight to behold, and a giant shot in the arm for tired legislators.

Thanks to all those who participated in today's rally. We needed that.

Today's committee meeting line-up

Today marks the End of (Assembly) Days with committee meetings in full swing until 3:30 today. The next time legislators convene in Olympia will be for the start of the 2010 session on January 11.

This morning, the Education Committee is talking about numerous issues including the status of changes to the state's student assessment program (formerly known as the WASL).

At 10, the Human Services Committee will take a look at the savings and efficiencies underway in the GA-U program. GA-U is a cash and health care assistance program for people who are physically or mentally are incapable of working, and is one of the programs considered at-risk in the midst of growing budget challenges.

The Finance Committee will meet at 1:30. Their agenda includes a look at the 2009 Performance Review of Tax Preferences. Tax preferences (also called tax breaks or tax incentives, depending on your point of view) are essentially money the state is choosing not to collect for some reason, usually to help a struggling industry or lure new businesses to the state. These will get very close scrutiny as legislators determine whether we can afford to keep many of them in place.

And on the heels of some major news from Governor Gregoire yesterday, the Government & Tribal Affairs Committee will be looking at the elimination of certain state boards and committees. More details to follow in a separate post.

As always, follow the action on TVW.

Committee Assembly week kicks off with...

...a couple of committee hearings! Who woulda thunk it?

Right now, the House Committee on Health & Human Services is taking a close look at the impact of the current budget on health and human services programs in Washington. Agencies are having to manage billion of dollars in recent cuts.

The meeting agenda includes a review of the following:

• The Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS)
  
• Administration/PaymentsMedical Assistance (DSHS)
• Health Care Authority
• Department of Health Economic Services Administration
• Aging and Disability Services Administration (Developmental Disabilities and Long-Term Care)

Then, today at 1:30, two world-renowned experts on quality management will be in Olympia today to headline the first meeting of a new House committee that aims to improve the performance and oversight of Washington state government.

Deborah Hopen and Dr. David Spong will share their expertise on creating high-quality, high-performance systems at today’s 1:30 to 4:30 PM opening meeting of the House of Representatives' new Audit, Review and Oversight Committee.

Hopen is the editor of American Society for Quality's Journal for Quality and
Participation. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field, including service as a senior executive with both Fortune and Inc. 500 companies, plus service as a president and chairman of the American Society for Quality, and as president of the Washington State Quality Award Program and the International Standards Initiative.

Dr. David Spong, who recently retired as president of Aerospace Support for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, is President-Elect of the American Society of Quality. He's also a past chair and current Board member of the Baldrige Foundation. Under Spong's leadership, the Being Division earned the 2003 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for service.

Committee Chair Mark Miloscia is also an expert on effective auditing practices and managing for quality. Earlier this year, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program selected Miloscia for the 2009 volunteer Board of Examiners.

Can't make these meetings live? Don't worry, you can catch them live on TVW.

Rep. Pettigrew and advocates express support for a temporary sales tax increase

At a news conference today, Rep. Eric Pettigrew and more than half a dozen advocates, shared the harsh realities of implementing the proposed cuts to the operating budget while expressing support for HB 2377.

Pettigrew said that neglecting to fund vital services such as public health, health care for low-income families and long-term care services could be detrimental to our most vulnerable populations statewide.

“We can never underestimate the power of connecting these people with the services they need, in the way they need to receive them,” Pettigrew said when talking about potential cuts to adult day health care.

Nora Gibson, Executive Director of ElderHealth Northwest, spoke about the adverse consequences of cutting funding for an adult day health program in Oregon. The result was the death of twenty percent of the patients and a tremendous cost increase to move fifty percent of the remaining patients into a higher level of care.

Pettigrew said that the decisions made in our current proposed budget were made in the best interest of the people while utilizing what we currently have.

However, additional revenue is still needed to restore many of the programs that support the safety net. He said that by providing voters with an option to temporarily increase the sales tax, we can alleviate many of the devastating cuts and potential cost increases in the future.

As for the Working Families Tax Rebate, Washington would be the first state in the nation to implement this rebate while not collecting an income tax. Remy Trupin of the Budget & Policy Council said that this tax refund will benefit low-income and moderate-income families.

If working late were cool, we'd be Miles Davis

We've reached another cut-off today. At 5pm, we will no longer consider opposite house bills, except those bills deemed necessary to implement the budget

We've spent many a late night passing bills, ending at, around, even after midnight each night this week, only to return at 8am to hold more committee hearings on the budget and start all over again.

Speaking of, the House Health & Human Services Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Eric Pettigrew, is currently underway, hearing public testimony on HB 2377 - the proposal to send to the voters of Washington a temporary increase in the state sales tax to help pay for health care and critical safety net programs. Watch it live at TVW here

Joe Turner at the News Tribune has more on the hearing at his blog here.

Following the hearing, House members will blearily return to the Floor to vote on one last package of bills.

PS: Cool as Miles Davis? Impossible.

Rep. Orwall starts as Human Service vice chair

Yesterday was a day of firsts for new members. Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Normandy Park, went straight from the swearing-in ceremony to her first committee meeting as vice chair of the Human Services Committee.

The committee is chaired by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, also pictured, talking about one of the areas the committee will be involved with.

For more information on what the committee handles: House Human Services Committee