Yes, a new budget remains unwritten. But the Legislature has crafted key victories
OLYMPIA – Special session? Yes, OK, it’s true that the 2011 Legislature has set off on an overtime period to finish writing a new operating budget and some other business. But the just-concluded 103-day regular session wasn’t without its strong points, according to a legislative leader from southwestern Washington, who today pointed out some victories that have already been won for senior citizens.
State Rep. Jim Moeller cited three measures in particular that “definitely merit highlighting in the ‘Win Column’ for Washington’s vulnerable population.” All three bills are on the verge of being signed into law, and two of them were prime-sponsored by the Clark County lawmaker.
Moeller’s House Bill 1494 establishes needed standards for agencies that refer citizens to social-help programs and services.
“The majority of referral agencies do a good job matching senior citizens with appropriate services,” Moeller said. “Fortunately most of the time, there’s no problem at all. But yes, there are those agencies that fall way short of meeting their responsibilities, sometimes endangering the health and well-being of very vulnerable adults.”
The standards created in the legislation involve matters such as fees/refunds, recordkeeping, disclosure statements, and intake forms.
Moeller explained that his bill requires a disclosure form including “clear and cogent information acknowledged by the senior citizen about what the agency does and doesn’t do, fees (if any), refund policies, and directions for making a complaint to the Attorney General. An intake form to assist with a proper referral (i.e., information on any medical conditions, special diets, behaviors or cultural needs) would also need to be completed.”
Moeller’s House Bill 1053 implements two recommendations from a 2009 report delivered by the Washington State Bar Association elder law section’s executive committee guardianship task force. The Bar Association sought Moeller’s prime-sponsorship for the measure and helped in its development. The task-force recommendations carried out in the bill direct that:
* Lay guardians will receive free training, which will be available online from the state Administrative Office of the Courts or superior courts.
* Expiration dates will be set for letters of guardianship.
“A serious problem the legislation addresses is the fact that it’s been very difficult to determine the number and status of guardianships in Washington,” Moeller said.
The directions outlined in Moeller’s House Bill 1104 are realized in the successful Senate Bill 5042, which adds what Moeller calls “very important and much-needed teeth” to current laws on the books to protect vulnerable adults. The measure will:
* Prohibit either wrongful control or withholding of a vulnerable adult’s property (and it spells out exactly what constitutes financial exploitation).
* Require the Department of Social & Health Services to provide a statement of rights to vulnerable adults whose cases are under investigation.
* Provide standards for the department to work with federally recognized Native American tribes to investigate abuse or financial exploitation that has taken place on tribal land.
The new standard expands the definition of “financial exploitation” beyond just the illegal or improper use of a vulnerable adult’s property. The proposal would include in the law’s definition the illegal or improper control over or withholding of property.
The Clark County lawmaker in recent years has won widespread public, legislative and gubernatorial support for the writing of laws designed to halt exploitation of vulnerable senior citizens and other citizens.
Moeller has worked with a task force of southwestern Washington citizens and other concerned individuals and organizations to create protective standards, including this year’s increasing, concentrated effort against exploitation.
Moeller, who is the Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives, also noted another successful 2011 legislative proposal, Senate Bill 5708, which involves the long-term-care system in Washington.
“Here in Washington, we’ve long sought the goal of making sure that folks can stay in their own homes and receive services in their own homes – for as long as they want and for as long as reasonably possible,” Moeller said.
“We know for sure that senior citizens who live in boarding homes and assisted-living facilities, if they can get some additional assistance, generally want to avoid moving to a nursing home.
“This year’s legislation will allow boarding homes to expand services they provide to include falls-risk assessment, nutrition management, dental services and wellness programs,” Moeller continued. “To help ease transitions from nursing homes to home, nursing homes will be able to provide telephone or web-based transitional care to people who’ve been discharged from a nursing home.
And so, yes, the Legislature obviously still has some work to do on the new state operating, transportation and construction budgets, as well as:
* Reforming the worker’s compensation system.
* Streamlining state government.
* Bolstering Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition Program.
* Implementing recommendations from the Higher Education Funding Task.
“But frankly, after everything is said and done,” Moeller emphasized, “the above-discussed bills, among other very good measures, genuinely reflect our One Washington focus: Protecting our most vulnerable fellow citizens and answering the call to help our neighbors in need.”