WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Tina Orwall’s e-newsletter for April 18, 2013

Dear Neighbors,

Yesterday marked the final cutoff – the last day to consider opposite house bills.   With less than two weeks remaining in the session, much of the year’s committee work is done. But there is still much work to do before we can head back home.

At the top of that list is agreeing on a two-year operating budget. Governor Inslee and the Senate both released their proposals for the state’s operating budget recently. Last week, the House rolled out our plan, too – I will give you some highlights below.

Now it is up to the budget writers from the House and Senate to negotiate a final budget that both chambers can agree on.  Also still on the agenda are a transportation budget and a capital construction budget.

 I talked about the differences between the Operating, Capital and Transportation budgets and about what the budget-writing process is like in my last legislative update, which you can view by clicking on the image below:

tina-apr-18

Update on my bills

I’m pleased that all of my remaining bills have passed the Senate:

HB 1213, my bill that makes a few revisions to the existing social work licensure statute

ESHB 1291, concerning increased enforcement, prevention, and rehab services for victims of the sex trade

ESHB 1336, concerning increasing the capacity for school districts to recognize and respond to troubled youth

ESHB 1341, allowing persons wrongly convicted and incarcerated to bring a civil suit against the state for compensation

SHB 1376, which clarifies the requirement in my bill last session (ESHB 2366) that certain health professionals complete training in suicide assessment, treatment, and management

SHB 1525, my bill to allow adult adoptees access to their original birth certificate, unless the birth parent has filed a valid affidavit of nondisclosure

A few of these bills were amended on the Senate floor; they will go back to the House for concurrence, then on to the Governor to be signed into law!


House budget proposal

The House budget proposal is a responsible budget that funds our state’s priorities:

  • Fully-funds K-12 education.
  • Expands healthcare to over 280,000 more people, saving $265 million.
  • Protects care for vulnerable seniors, the disabled, and at-risk kids.
  • Promotes jobs and economic opportunity

The House proposal adds $1.3 billion over predicted spending on public schools. Gov. Jay Inslee proposed putting $1.2 billion more toward education, while Senate Republican budget writers put forth a budget that adds only $760 million to meet our McCleary obligations.

Our plan also:

  • Invests in early learning
  • Reduces class sizes in K-3
  • Puts more money into high-demand college degrees
  • Expands health care and protects the safety net
  • Offers affordable health coverage to 280,000 more people by expanding Medicaid
  • Helps small business with costs by implementing the health care exchange, giving business owners and employees affordable and portable options for health coverage

You can get many more details about the proposal here and here.

How would you balance the state budget and fund education?  The Seattle Times has an interactive online budget game to allow you to decide how you would balance the state budget and increase education funding at the same time.  

 budget


Tax reform and tax fairness

Every two years, our budget writers carefully decide where to spend taxpayer dollars, but only recently have they begun looking at the other side of the equation – tax exemptions.  Now, though, a citizens’ commission, the state’s expert audit and review committee, and the House Finance Committee are all reviewing the 640 tax exemptions, breaks, and loopholes in our state’s tax code.

It’s estimated these exemptions cost about $24 billion each biennium.  Many of them have been on the books, unexamined, since the 1930s. Lawmakers want to know, do they still make sense? Do they actually create the jobs they were intended to?

cashAnd, most importantly, are they more critical to our state than making sure our kids get the education we want them to have?
Based on the answers to some of those questions, the House has proposed a series of reforms that will shift tax dollars from unneeded exemptions to funding education – our paramount duty.

The $1.3 billion in reforms and revenue in our budget proposal match the $1.3 billion new investment in education we propose in our budget. 


Funding mental health services that are critical to public safety

Our House budget proposal funds recently-approved legislation that helps to ensure the mentally ill get the care they need and make Washington a safer place:

  • House Bill 1114: fills the gap between the criminal justice system and mental health care providers. It ensures that violent mental health offenders get the treatment they need, instead of ending up on the streets.
  • House Bill 1336: my bill that requires school counselors and nurses to receive training on suicide prevention – giving these professionals the tools to identify early warning signs of troubled youth and prevent tragedies.
  • House Bill 1777: accelerates the implementation of critical involuntary commitment of people with pressing mental health issues. The new approach will take input from family members and friends into consideration when making a decision to involuntarily commit. We pay for this change two years ahead of schedule.
  • House Bill 1522: builds a bridge between hospitals and the community for the mentally ill. It creates a step down from state hospitals – which will provide an important service to folks beginning to transition back into day-to-day life. This isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the cost-effective approach.
  • House Bill 1627: gives county jails the tools they need to meet the growing demand for competency evaluations. Our county jails aren’t mental health care providers and, without adequate care, the mentally ill deteriorate rapidly in jail.

depressionWe’ve seen the tragedies that can occur when the mentally ill don’t get treatment they need. I believe mental health care is a critical investment – it’s just one of many priorities I will be fighting for in coming weeks.


I appreciate your feedback on many of the bills and issues we have considered this session. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Tinasigsmall