Hello Friends,

Greetings from our state capitol!  We are nearly one month into the 2013 legislative session and in the midst of public hearings on proposed bills.  In fact, the first cut-off date of the session is coming up already on February 22nd.  That is the last day that a policy bill can be acted upon in a House committee if it has any chance of going on to a full vote in House.

Early Start

As chair of the Early Learning and Human Services Committee, my time has been devoted to preparing for and conducting public hearings and work sessions. I also introduced a bill this week — the “Early Start” bill, to help parents and caregivers give children a good start, and be ready for kindergarten.

Early Start:

• Builds a high quality birth-to-five continuum of services over time – something that is vital to helping close the achievement gap.  When children start behind, they generally stay behind.
• 85 percent of a child’s brain development is complete by the time that child reaches three years of age.  Our early learning efforts need to focus on quality early learning opportunities birth to 5 – not just Pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds.
• Carefully targets resources on strategies that will yield high results and give us the best return on our early childhood and safety net investments.
• Blends our already-existing programs – including parent education, the Early Child Education Program and our Working Connections child care program – to provide high-quality, all-day early learning opportunities for low-income children, and improve the quality of care for all children.
• Includes an expansion of home visiting services for parents facing serious challenges, to help them get their children off to the best possible start.  This is absolutely crucial, as home visiting programs have been shown to cut incidences of child abuse and neglect in half.

Revenues from Initiative 502 will fund Early Start.  Giving children a good start is the best investment we can make in prevention, and in later educational success.

On February 15, there will be a public hearing on my bill.  I will keep you posted on its progress.

Affordable Care Act

I’m also pleased to report that our state is moving forward on health care reform, and early action on our part has resulted in more than $150 million in federal funding coming to Washington.

The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services give approval to a state’s health care exchange program.  Washington got its approval for the Washington Healthplanfinder back in December, well before the January 1 deadline.  In fact, we were one of only six states to meet this deadline.

The Washington Healthplanfinder  will make it easier to compare health plans and get a better price for coverage.  Right now, young adults, college students, small business employees and the self-employed often have no health care coverage at all because they can’t afford to buy it on the individual market.  That will change when our state’s health care exchange is up and running in 2014. Current estimates say that more than 200,000 uninsured residents will be able to receive coverage.

You can get more information from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange website. Consumers can begin enrolling in the exchange on October 1, 2013.

I welcome your thoughts and concerns on legislative issues.  Please send me an email or call my office at 360-786-7910 to provide feedback.

It’s an honor to serve as your legislator.

Sincerely,

Rep. Ruth Kagi