Dear neighbors,
There are many issues to work on in the Legislature this session, but the main concern in everyone’s mind is fully funding education. It is time to make hard decisions and do what is right for children and teachers in our schools.
I will continue to focus on finding bipartisan support for solutions that create positive changes for you and all Washingtonians, and ensure that our values are upheld in the policies we adopt.
Senate’s turn to pass Levy Cliff bill
The House of Representatives passed its first bill of the 2017 Legislative Session this week – HB 1059. You may have heard this referred to as the “Levy Cliff” bill (click here for a detailed explanation).
 The bill passed the House with bipartisan support, but if the Senate doesn’t follow suit, public schools will lose roughly $358 million in funding for the 2017-18 school year. Teachers will receive layoff notices and crowded classrooms will become even larger.
Students deserve stability in their schools. This bill makes sure that school districts aren’t held hostage while the Legislature finds long-term solutions to the school funding problem. I hope the Senate honors the state’s promise to fully fund education, because Washington’s 1.1 million school kids shouldn’t have their education disrupted due to partisan politics. |
Medical marijuana in schools?
Did you know there are at least fifty children in our state who depend on medical marijuana on a daily basis to treat conditions such as epilepsy? After trying traditional treatments with little or no success, their parents tested alternatives and found that cannabis manages to keep the seizures under control.
Medical marijuana can be administered in numerous ways, some parents add a few drops of cannabis oil to a cup of juice or a cookie that their kids take to keep the seizures at bay. But since no form of marijuana is allowed on school grounds, these children have to go home several times to take their medicine, or miss school altogether.
Their quality of life would be greatly improved if my bill, allowing medical marijuana in schools under very stringent conditions, makes it to the governor’s desk.
Many factors already impact a child’s access to education, let’s not let health be one of them.
To learn how it would work, check out this Q13 story.
Medicaid expansion waiver granted in Washington
Medicaid is a federal program that helps families with low incomes get healthcare. When a patient is homeless, or doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from, healthcare sometimes takes a back seat. And with a growing elderly population, many of our seniors need help to stay in their homes instead of transitioning to full-time care facilities.
Luckily, Washington is working to transform Medicaid throughout the state to better use resources, expand options for those receiving long-term care, and provide our most vulnerable populations with the support they need to get and stay healthy.
Through a waiver from the federal government allowing Washington to innovate, along with the $1.5 billion in federal funds the state will receive, the state Health Care Authority will help Washington’s Medicaid program test new approaches to providing care.
Learn more about the HCA’s Medicaid transformation program by visiting their website.
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