House Democrats release budget proposals

Rep. Hans Dunshee at this morning's press conference

As the end of the special session approaches on Tuesday, House Democrats unveiled a good faith plan in a press conference this morning to move forward on a compromise with the Senate around government reform measures, an operating budget, and a capital budget.

The reform measures are currently being discussed in the House Ways & Means Committee. You can also read about the numerous government reforms championed by House Democrats in recent years here and here.

As for the operating budget, our proposal no longer includes a $330 million K-12 apportionment shift. Instead, House Democrats have proposed modifying the method in which funds are transferred to the account that distributes sales tax revenues to local governments. (More details on that proposal to follow in a separate blog post.) House Democrats remain committed to making no cuts to basic and higher education. Our budget also preserves funding for vital public services like the Basic Health Plan, critical access hospitals, and adult day health.

This budget solves a $1 billion budget deficit problem by enacting several government reforms and without raising additional revenue. This is the very definition of “moving to the middle.”

The new House budget will be introduced as a striking amendment to the original House budget – HB 2127.

Joining House budget writers Rep. Ross Hunter and Rep. Pat Sullivan at this morning's press conference was House Capital Budget chair Rep. Hans Dunshee, who spoke about the urgency of putting unemployed Washingtonians back to work by passing a jobs package.  Rep. Dunshee held up a copy of today's Olympian newspaper, in which the lead story is about the impending loss of federal long-term unemployment benefits for Washingtonians.  He also played a brief video interview of a woman who used to work as an architect for 20 years until the downturn in the construction industry.  She is now trained as an iron worker, and hopes that the legislature will approve a jobs package so that construction projects pick up again around the state.

To read this post in Spanish, please click here.

Upthegrove bill good for business, the environment, and the state’s bottom line

If you drink filtered water at home or at work, you know the drill.  The filter keeps impurities out of your drinking water, which is a good thing.

In a similar fashion, boatyards in Washington state are required to install pollution control filter systems that help keep toxic runoff out of Puget Sound.

But the filters for boatyards are significantly more expensive than your average home drinking water filter.  They can cost upwards of $100,000, which is no small chunk of change.  Since most boatyards in the state are small businesses, this is a pretty significant investment for them.


Luckily, a bill that was signed into law last week will streamline the permitting process boatyards have to go through in order to install these filter systems.  It’s currently a rather lengthy process, and as they say – time is money.  An expedited process helps these small businesses as they work to comply with state law, and protects the jobs these businesses create and sustain.  Rep. Dave Upthegrove sponsored the bill, which won’t cost the state any money but helps keep Puget Sound free from toxic runoff and other pollutants.

You can read more about the bill here.

And here’s a video of Rep. Upthegrove talking about the bill when he introduced it earlier this year.

To read this post in Spanish, click here.

Shorter lines, faster service at DOL offices

The state Department of Licensing issued a press release last week that seems to confirm what was recently reported by KIRO FM: a trip to your local DOL office, "doesn't have to suck."

Once synonymous with excruciatingly long wait times, DOL offices are becoming more customer-friendly these days thanks to more online options. Things like changing your address, replacing a lost or stolen card, obtaining a copy of your driving record or even renewing your license can now be handled via the web, removing hundreds of thousands of people from DOL lines throughout the state. Yes, that's right: hundreds of thousands. This has already produced a noticeable drop in office wait times. 

And wait times are likely to keep right on decreasing as a result of House Bill 1635, which passed the Legislature this year. It authorizes driver training schools and public schools to administer both the written and driving portions of the driver licensing exam. This change frees up DOL staff to handle more customers at the counter, rather than be out on the roads administering driving tests. According to a DOL spokesperson, the driver training schools should be able to begin administering the exams in spring or summer of next year.

Shorter lines and faster service were exactly what Rep. Dave Upthegrove was going for when he sponsored HB 1635. The DOL office with the longest wait times in the state serves the Highline portion of his district, and he has personally experienced the agony of standing in line there. Now even the wait time at that location has decreased, according to the KIRO FM report.

At this rate, a trip to the DOL may soon be downright fun.

State government's "most significant overhaul" in 20 years begins today

This past session, legislators approved a plan to consolidate and reallocate the functions of five state agencies into three. That plan goes into effect today.

As described by the governor's press release, four agencies are going away - Department of General Administration, Department of Personnel, the State Printer and Department of Information Services. Their functions, ranging from managing the state's fleet of vehicles to providing IT support, will be merged into one of two new agencies - Department of Enterprise Services (DES) or Consolidated Technology Services.

Portions of Personnel and Information Services will be merged with the Office of Financial Management (OFM) while certain functions in OFM are transferred to the new DES.

A little confusing perhaps, but Governor Gregoire says this is the "most significant overhaul" in state government in 20 years. The transition is expected to be complete by October and save $18.3 million in 2011-13.

Read more about this and other cost-cutting reforms passed by the Legislature.

To read this blog post in Spanish, go here.

REET Flexibility Bill—helping cities and taxpayers

State Rep. Larry Springer’s 2011 REET Flexibility Bill, aka House Bill 1953, is already at work helping cities and taxpayers—even though the bill won’t officially take effect until July 22.

A recent press release from the City of Kirkland is announcing that “Thanks to a new state law that allows flexibility in the use of existing revenue from Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET), some Kirkland parks and public works maintenance services affected by budget reductions will soon get restored.”

The REET Flexibility Bill doesn’t raise or authorize any new taxes, but it does give local communities more flexibility in how they can use existing REET collections to meet local needs. In the past, these revenues could only be used to finance the creation of new capital projects and facilities. But beginning July 22, communities can use these funds to maintain existing facilities.

The Kirkland announcement details how the Kirkland City Council will use their newly won fiscal flexibility to reopen park facilities, do needed road maintenance, and generally to “use existing REET funds to help protect our investments and our quality of life.” Similar success stories will soon be repeated in local communities across Washington.

And there is more good news coming for cities and counties: Springer also led passage of the 2011 Fiscal Relief for Cities and Counties Act (House Bill 1478), which also takes effect on July 22. The fiscal relief bill will save local governments millions of dollars by giving them more time to meet a variety of non-urgent state mandates and paperwork requirements.

Performing on reforming

Washington hasn’t rested on our reform laurels since earning top Grading the States honors in “results-based government” from the Governing Magazine and the Pew Center on the States. Much is being done and there is still more to do, according to new reports.

A summary of Major 2011 Legislative Reforms from the office of the Governor points to hundreds of millions in savings from actions taken this year—including Unemployment Insurance Reforms that will save businesses $300 million this year alone.

A brand new report from the State Auditor’s Office shows we’re also making progress on performance-based contracting. In November 2010, Gov. Chris Gregoire’s 2011 Executive Order on Performance Based Contracting directed all state cabinet agencies to institute performance-based contracting for new contracts and renewals of existing contracts. The new State Auditor’s report on performance contracting followed up with detailed reviews of more than 450 state contracts and hundreds of interviews. Findings include:

• Overall, Washington has built a solid foundation from which to improve its contracting processes and possibly to reduce costs.
• Washington contracts for about $10 billion annually—roughly a third of all state spending. And 92 percent of reviewed contracts met the Office of Financial Management’s basic standards by identifying deliverables and tying payments to successful completion or delivery.
  

But there’s still more to do. For example, the Highlights of the Auditor’s Recommendations calls for increasing the use of performance or outcomes measures in determining payments, and improved training on performance contracting.

The work of reform is never complete. There will always be more to do … and House Democrats will always be leading the way.

Workers’ Comp reform = better care, less costly system

2011 marks the centennial of Washington's Workers' Compensation program, also known as Industrial Insurance. It is a no-fault insurance program that pays medical costs and partially reimburses the lost wages of workers who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses.

Some big changes to the program are slated for the session, to help bring down costs and better protect injured workers. The first reform came Saturday night, when the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide better medical care to injured workers and reduce costs through a new health care provider network. It also expands the number of Centers for Occupational Health and Education - a proven method of getting workers back to work sooner.

"This will lower the cost both to workers and businesses by getting people back to work much quicker so that Washington's workforce and businesses are stronger as we move out of this recession," said the bill's sponsor and Chair of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, Rep. Mike Sells.

The measure will save about $160 million over the next four years.

To get the details on this legislation, read the press release here.

Want change? You got it. The Governor's multi-billion dollar reform ideas

In the past two days, Governor Gregoire has outlined several major proposals to restructure and rethink some of the services our state provides.

At yesterday's press conference, she outlined major pension and health care reforms that will save tens of billions of dollars over the next 25 years.

By eliminating the automatic pension increases paid to TRS 1 and PERS 1 employees, Gregoire says the state would immediately cut its unfunded liability in half and save $2 billion over the next two biennia. She proposes other changes such as eliminating the no-penalty provision for future new hires and closing the retire-rehire exception for certain retirees in higher education. In total, Gregoire's pension plan would save $11.3 billion over 25 years. (Note: Rep. Reuven Carlyle introduced a bill yesterday that would also address some of the retire-rehire issues in higher ed.)

Her health care proposal aims to save $26 billion over the next ten years by focusing on reducing health care cost inflation to no more than 5 percent per year, paying for Medicaid and other health care services based on outcome instead of number of office visits, and better leveraging the state's purchasing power by consolidating health care purchases into a single agency.

In today's press conference, Gregoire suggested major agency consolidation plans that she says will reduce overhead costs and minimize duplication across agencies. She anticipates savings of about $30 million in the next biennium and a reduction of 125 employees. She wants to:

• Consolidate the state's 11 natural resource agencies into five
• Merge the Departments of General Administration, Personnel, Printing, and portions of the Department of Information Services and the Office of Financial Management merge into a new Department of Enterprise Services (Gregoire alluded to more details in January about other broad changes regarding DIS's IT management)
  
• Consolidate the state’s Human Rights Commission, Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise, Commission on African Affairs, Commission on Hispanic Affairs and Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs into a single Office of Civil Rights
• Eliminate 36 more boards and commissions (dozens were already eliminated last session)
  
• See whether anything comes of discussions between the Department of Corrections and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs about short- and long-term strategies to maximize each correctional systems’ (state and local) strengths and integrate certain services
  

The Governor will release her budget proposal tomorrow. Her budget is expected to reflect savings from these proposals.

For more information, you can see yesterday's press conference on the Governor's pension and health care reform ideas here.


Today's press conference is here.

Snowed in?

Looking for something to do? The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is looking for feedback about the state's education reform efforts.

According to the Governor's office, OSPI is trying to identify specific steps to help us meet the four state goals laid out last June in our state's application for the Obama Administration's Race to the Top grant program:

• Students entering kindergarten will be prepared for success in school and life;
• Students will compete in math and science nationally and internationally;
• Students will attain high academic standards regardless of race, ethnicity, income or gender; and
• Students will graduate able to succeed in college, other higher training and careers.
  

Washington ultimately was not selected as a recipient, but reform efforts continue.

So take a few moments, see how quickly you can decipher some of the wonky survey language, and give your two cents on education reform.

Washington's race to the top is not really over

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the semi-finalists in President Obama's Race to the Top competitive grant program.

Of the 35 states competing for grant money, Washington wasn't one selected to continue to the final round. But that doesn't mean legislators are finished working on the reforms already set in motion before the Race was even announced.

A committed, bi-partisan group of legislators worked hard the past two legislative sessions to pass the most comprehensive changes to our education system in more than 30 years, and the group tasked with following through on those changes will continue to do so, with or without Race funding.

It's worth noting that despite Washington's actions on many of the selection criteria (including adopting common standards and turning around low-performing schools), a significant number of points were awarded to states who have or are willing to launch charter schools. Washington voters have repeatedly rejected this approach, though our K-12 system currently operates numerous innovative schools such as Aviation High School in Des Moines, Tacoma School of the Arts, and more than a dozen skills centers.

You can read the joint statement from Governor Gregoire and Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, and see coverage of the announcement here and here.

Hundreds show up to talk about state budget

Last night was the first of four public budget hearings hosted by Governor Chris Gregoire.

More than 450 people crowded the room UW-Tacoma to hear presentations from the Governor's budget guy, Marty Brown, the Governor herself, and staff from the Office of Financial Management.

Attendees were given a 10-page overview describing our budget situation and the six "values" driving budget decisions: student achievement, protect health and vulnerable people, economic development, effective government, public safety, and natural resources.

About 40 people were able to testify of the 140 who had signed up. Many of the comments were pleas to continue funding for various programs, though some people offered up ideas on how to address the budget shortfall. Suggestions included:

• Take away the $5 million tax exemption for the TransAlta coal plant and make more progress on climate change
• Close down state institutions for people with developmental disabilities and put resources in community
• Set up a state bank like in North Dakota
• Re-negotiate state employee collective bargaining contract and cut salaries
• Set up waiver programs and low-interest repayment plans for businesses that can’t afford to pay state taxes
  

The Governor has also set up a website where the public can post comments. It went up yesterday, and as this blog post is being written, there are nearly 400 suggestions. You can take a look and vote to agree or disagree or comment on the ideas posted.

You can also take a look at this morning’s News Tribune story about last night’s hearing .

Three public meetings remain:

• Tomorrow, July 21 at 7 p.m. – Everett (Everett Community College, Parks Building, Multi Purpose Room, 2000 Tower Street)
• Tuesday, July 27 at 7 p.m. —Vancouver (WSU-Vancouver, Administration Building Room 110, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue)
• Thursday, July 29 with time TBA—Spokane (Spokane City Hall, City Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard)
  

The "Transforming Washington's Budget" roadshow starts in two weeks

A couple weeks ago Governor Gregoire announced a new budgeting process that would take place with the help of a committee made up of public- and private-sector experts in economics, industry, labor and more.

The new process is also designed to include the help of Washington residents via a series of public hearings. For anyone interested in learning more about our budget challenges and, more importantly, providing feedback on ways the state can do more with less in these difficult times, these meetings are a rare chance to do it in person.

Here's the July schedule:
July 19: Tacoma, 7-9 PM (UWT-William W. Phillip Hall, Milgard Assembly Room, 1900 Commerce Street)

July 21: Everett, 7-9 PM (Everett Community College, Parks Building, Multi Purpose Room, 2000 Tower Street)

July 27: Vancouver, 7-9 PM (WSU-Vancouver, Administration Building Room 110, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue)

July 29: Spokane, Time TBA, (Spokane City Hall, City Council Chambers, 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard)

New economic reality prompts new budgeting process

This morning Governor Gregoire rolled out a new approach for "Transforming Washington's Budget."

The 20-page plan is worth checking out as it lays out a more detailed set of questions that agencies will have to answer if they want funding for the services and programs they currently provide. The questions are grouped into the areas of efficiency, performance and fiscal responsibility.

Niki Reading from TVW was there for the Governor's press conference. She reports the Governor's new approach is prompted by the slow economic recovery and its anticipated long-term impact on our budget, starting with a projected $3 billion shortfall for the 2011-13 budget. In Gregoire's opening remarks she said:

"We are seeing hopeful signs in our economic recovery but quite frankly, we are also seeing that things are not going to get back to the way they were anytime soon.”

The plan lays out some major reform ideas to be considered including the privatization of our state ferry system and moving more people with developmental disabilities from state-operated residential centers to home- and community-based settings.

The Governor has created a committee to provide input on these and other budget ideas. A cross-section of right- and left-leaning economists are on the roster, as well as chief budget writers from all four legislative caucus including House Ways & Means Chair Kelli Linville.

The Governor's budget office also plans to engage the public with a series of budget hearings across the state. The first is in Tacoma on July 19. Additional dates and locations will be announced soon.

Gregoire made an important point that this is not the first stab at major budget reforms, but it is a continuation of re-assessing how we "invest scarce dollars among so many competing demands." The 20-page plan includes numerous examples of spending reforms and efficiencies put in place during the previous legislative session including transferring certain state parks to local governments, cutting back on health care coverage for low-income families and consolidating correctional institutions.

Linville: reforms underway, more needed

State government needs to realign itself with today’s new economic reality—that’s the message Rep. Kelli Linville (Bellingham) delivered in an op-ed over the weekend to the Bellingham Herald.

The Ways & Means Committee leader notes that reform is actually an ongoing practice in the budget process, although it rarely grabs the headlines. Reforms in recent years for long-term care, childhood vaccine purchasing, business permitting, and the juvenile justice system have sought to wring more value from taxpayer dollars.

That being said, the severity of today’s worldwide economic crisis means reforms must go even further, Linville says. “The Legislature's top priority now is realigning government with today's new economic reality so that it works better for the people we represent,” she writes.

To that end, the Ways & Means Committee is engaged in a substantive reform effort this legislative interim. As we mentioned earlier today, the committee is meeting to discuss reform efforts on education, health care, performance-based contracting, information technology and more. In May, the committee held two reform work sessions (agenda one, agenda two) open to all members of the House, where budget and audit experts presented potential reform methods, and legislators discussed their own reform ideas.

Interested in receiving notice of meeting dates and agendas? Sign up for the committee’s email list here.

Ways & Means meeting now - focus on reform

The House Ways & Means Committee is meeting this afternoon covering a full agenda including the latest revenue projections, an update on agency efforts to increase efficiency, education reform, and a discussion of possible budget reform ideas - fiscal note process, standard approaches to reviewing the budget and agency budget requests, and adding performance measures to the budget.

You can watch it live online at TVW.

Ways & Means meeting today

Today is the sequel to last week's House Ways & Means meeting as the members continue discussions about how to make our state government more effective and efficient.

It's not really a new conversation, and Washington is already a noted leader in "results-based governance." But the recession and its $12 billion impact on our state budget has put new life and urgency into finding ways to cut costs and streamline operations.

After trying to rebalance our 2009-11 budget in a short 60-day session, and anticipating continued economic fallout in next year's 2011 session, Rep. Kelli Linville, chair of the Ways & Means Committee, is devoting the interim to finding smart reforms and gathering ideas from legislators.

You can tune in to today's meeting at 1:30 on TVW.

Calling all reform and accountability wonks

Yesterday, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, chaired by Rep. Troy Kelley, met in Olympia. This is the bi-partisan group that meets regularly to discuss performance audits, program evaluations, and other studies geared to making our government more efficient, effective and accountable. Reps. Kathy Haigh, Sharon Nelson and Deb Wallace also serve on the committee.

Yesterday's meeting included a recap of JLARC-related news from the 2010 legislative session, including four new performance audit assignments: new stormwater permit requirements passed in the transportation budget, Medicaid cost-containment strategies, cost and use of helicopters in suppressing wildfires, and a review of the new lottery marketing strategy (as passed in this year's SB 6409).

The group also looked at two reports presented by JLARC staff: a preliminary report on Information-Sharing and Medicaid Reinstatement for Individuals Released from Confinement and the proposed final report on the Analysis of the Costs and Benefits of Accepting Bankcards at WSDOT.

These meetings are not for the casual observer, but if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of how our state government is trying to make things work better, have at it! You can watch the meeting here. JLARC's next meeting is May 19.

At long last - Sine Die 2010

The first bill passed by the House this session was also one of the last. The JOBS Act of 2010, which will go to the voters in November, will create at least 30,000 jobs for the hard-hit construction industry while making schools safer and more energy-efficient. The Senate also approved the measure this evening.

“While the economy and the resulting budget situation dominate the headlines, we also focused on the longer-term needs of our state,” said House Speaker Frank Chopp. “We spent last summer and fall building an agenda to address issues families talk about around their kitchen tables – decent-paying jobs, good schools, safe communities. We made real progress on all those fronts while continuing to find ways to trim the budget and reform the way government works.”

“We tried to meet the real needs of real people,” said Majority Leader Lynn Kessler. “Naturally, we concentrated on the budget, but we also wanted to make sure our businesses – and our people – are well-positioned to take advantage of the new jobs that will be available as we come out of this Great Recession.”

Key bills approved during the 2010 session include:

Balancing the budget

• Reduced agency spending.
• Suspended performance bonuses and salary increases for many state employees.
• Extended the ban on hiring, travel, contracting, and purchases.

Putting Washington back to work

• JOBS Act of 2010 will, if approved by voters, create at least 38,000 jobs around the state while making our public schools safer, healthier, and more energy efficient.
• Washington Works Housing Act will put an additional 10,000 construction workers back to work building affordable housing so people like nurses, police officers, and teachers can live closer to their jobs.
• Continued to provide incentives for industries to locate and grow in Washington, from an extension of the rural tax credit for creating jobs in areas hardest hit by unemployment to a new exemption for high-tech companies who build the next generation of data centers in our state.
  

Educating our kids

• We took next step in reforming K-12 funding by setting in motion the first recommendations from the Quality Education Council, the group tasked with implementing HB 2261.
• Restored, protected, and enhanced local levy funding by allowing school districts to calculate their levies to funding levels that existed prior to 2009 when the legislature was forced to cut education budgets.
• Approved new strategies for turning around low-performing schools and a new evaluation system for teachers and principals designed to position Washington schools to succeed in the federal Race to the Top.
• Provided help for thousands of low-income students to pay for college with some of the most generous financial aid programs in the nation, making Washington a leader in student access and affordability.
• Gave assistance to community and technical colleges to help thousands of unemployed workers seeking to retrain and retool for jobs in emerging industries.
  

Community safety

• Gave voters the opportunity to amend the state constitution so that judges may consider withholding bail on anyone charged with a crime punishable by the possibility of life in prison, thereby restricting release on the toughest, most dangerous criminals.
• Required that a bail may only be granted by a judge for a person arrested and detained for a felony offense, and does away with the “booking bail” schedule.
• Exempted the photographs and birth date information in personnel files of criminal justice employees from disclosure under the Public Records Act, except for media requests. This protects law enforcement officers and their families from threats by inmates.
  

Reforming government

• Transformed the way we fund our public schools, simplifying the current complicated budgeting process and increasing transparency.
• Reformed the way safety net services are delivered with the Disability Lifeline, which stresses quicker transitions to self-sufficiency and better utilizations of state and federal dollars.
• Redesigned the delivery of temporary assistance to needy families with services that will help recipients getting back on their feet more quickly.
• Eliminated, consolidated and/or streamlined numerous boards, commissions, and agency functions.
• Improved Washington State Ferries operations by eliminating inefficiencies and changing the way labor contracts are negotiated.
  

Boards and commissions on the cutting room floor

Both the Governor and Legislature have been working to shrink the number of state boards and commissions. On Monday, Governor Gregoire signed Rep. John Driscoll's legislation to eliminate 46 additional state boards and commissions, bringing the total number of boards and commissions no longer on the books to about 130 , which the News Tribune reports will save an estimate $3.3 million over the next five years.

In addition, the Governor last week approved Rep. Kevin Van De Wege’s bill to reduce the number of state environmental and land use hearing boards from five to two. When combined with a Senate bill to further streamline the work of the (now-named) Environmental and Land Use Hearing Office, the Governor’s office says taxpayers will save about $250,000 per biennium. Her office has posted a handy before-and-after of how the smaller operation looks.

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.