January 13, 2012
The 2012 session of the Washington State Legislature began Monday, pretty much the way the last session ended: with legislators focused on the economic challenges facing our state. Although we filled about 1/3 of the projected budget shortfall in December, these cuts were the “least difficult,” and we face a daunting task of finding another $1.5 billion in cuts. We still have a lot of work to do before we adjourn. Members of the budget teams in both the House and Senate continued work over the holidays and will be presenting their proposals soon.
I continue to remain firmly resolved that the Legislature must propose additional revenues to offset some of these cuts. Yes, that means putting a tax increase package on the ballot later this year. We cannot continue to cut and put vital programs—K-12 education, higher education, foster children, senior citizens, etc. at risk.
Many of you have contacted my office about the budget and the potential cuts to services or plans to increase revenues. I appreciate all your input and will keep you updated in the weeks ahead.
The budget is the main thing, but not the only thing, legislators will be addressing this session. House Speaker Frank Chopp laid out five other goals for us in his opening day speech:
- Create jobs now – the best way to improve our economy is to get our people back to work.
- Fund basic education – even in tough times, we need to fund our public schools.
- Save the safety net – our budget is more than just a spreadsheet; it’s a statement of our values. We can’t turn our backs on our neighbors in need.
- Ensure equality – the principle of equality made this a great nation and still inspires people all over the world. Everyone wants a fair shake.
- Provide opportunity – our young people deserve a chance to go to college or get the job training they need to claim their dreams.
These goals will be challenging to achieve, for sure, but we can’t give up our ideals because times are tough. The budget will dominate the session, no doubt; however we can’t focus so much on the problems of the present that we lose sight of the future.
New prescription drug program will save lives in our state
The number of people dying due to prescription drug overdoses in our state has grown dramatically: from 2003 to 2008 the state death rate increased 90 percent. In fact, currently, more people die from unintentional drug overdoses than in car accidents.
To crack down on this statewide overdose problem, in 2007 the Legislature passed a bill that created the Washington State Prescription Monitoring Program (WA PMP), which was rolled out on October 7, 2011.
The state has since been collecting, and storing in a database, information regarding purchases of pain meds and other controlled substances (Schedule II, III, IV and V). So far the most dispensed drug—at 44 million pills to fill more than 800,000 prescriptions—was Hydrocodone / Acetaminophen (Vicodin). That’s a lot of pills and it makes sense to know where they’re going and how they’re used so that they are not misused or abused.
The WA PMP promotes public health and safety and helps improve patient care because physicians and pharmacists will be able to use the database to identify dangerous drug interactions, recognize undermanaged pain or see the need for substance-abuse treatment.
With the WA PMP, Washington joins 47 other states that have laws authorizing monitoring programs.
To learn more visit the program’s website here.
Redistricting Update
The state Redistricting Commission adopted new legislative and congressional districts for Washington on January 1. These districts will be used beginning with the August primary. The 22nd District saw very little changes, but there are other changes that have a profound impact on our area. I will provide you with more details in my next newsletter.
Keeping tabs on your Legislature
I appreciate hearing from you throughout the session, and I want to help you stay up-to-date on budget and other discussions. I’ll do my best to keep you informed with this e-memo, but there are several other ways to stay connected:
*Visit our website at www.housedemocrats.wa.gov
*Follow us on Twitter @WaHouseDems.
*Subscribe to our blog’s RSS feed – The HDC Advance. Blogger members can follow our blog here.
*Subscribe to the House of Representatives YouTube channel for the latest Legislative Updates and other videos from your representatives.