Sine die, my
friend, sine die…
The term “sine die” (pronounced
SIGH-nee dye)
is a Latin phrase which means “without day”. This term in our
legislature refers to the fact that they are adjourning without a
specific day on which they will reconvene. The last day of the
Washington State Legislature was March 13th and the big focus
was passing the state budget in both houses. There was also some final
concurrence on bills trying to make it past that last cut-off day for
this year.
There were some good bills that passed this session, and some that will
be back next year. SB 6760, a bill designed to add excess property from
all Residential Habilitation Centers (RHCs) to the DD Community Trust
Account (known as the Dan Thompson Memorial Trust), met with resistance
from a legislator who did not want Fircrest included. The Speaker of the
House agreed and the rest of the House members were left with no choice
but to exclude Fircrest from the bill or it would die. The bill still
adds excess property from two more RHCs to the trust, so four of the
five RHCs will now be included. Funding was included in the budget for
Phase 2 of the Fircrest Master Plan which will hopefully help settle
concerns so that Fircrest can be added to the trust next year.
SB 6313 designates October as Disability Awareness Month in schools and
even received a small amount of funding. HB 2903 creates an access
coordinator position in the courts to assist those with disabilities, it
was also funded in the budget. SB 6743 requires OSPI to print and
distribute the guidebook being created by the Autism Task Force which
will include specific guidelines for parents and teachers to use when
addressing the unique needs of autism. It also directs OSPI to submit
training guidelines on autism to the legislature by December 2008.
Funding was provided for printing and distribution of the guidebook.
A surprise finish happened with HB 2693 which addressed training for
individual care providers. There was a lot of input from various groups
affected in the bill such as parent providers, intermittent providers
and agency providers. It was thought that there was some agreement
because of the threat of it becoming an initiative to the voters at a
much higher cost, but at the end of the session the bill did not get
passed. This issue is definitely not finished.
SB 6448 would have created a program in state statute that addressed
intensive behavior support needs of children with severe behavioral
issues in-home as opposed to out-of-home placement. Although the bill
did not pass, the final budget included the funding for the program.
This means the program was created as a proviso in the budget and
received 6 FTEs for the program, a tremendous success as new programs
are not often funded in supplemental budgets. Look for advocates to
bring the bill back next year to get the program established in state
statute.
Other DD
budget successes in addition to those noted above include funding for a
few new trusts in the DD Endowment Trust Fund (or Life Opportunities
Trust) and employment services for 31 waiver high school graduates and
50 non-waiver grads. The NW Autism Center also received funding for
expansion of diagnostic services for autism and for training teachers on
autism. To see a side-by-side of the budgets including the final amounts
go to
http://www.arcwa.org/leg_session.htm
For budget detail go to
http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/detail/2008/coSenate2008AgyDetail_0312.pdf
Another issue addressed in the final budget is a study of the funding
for early intervention services. The funding requested for the Infant
Toddler Equity Act did not happen in the bills (SB 6713/HB 2900) or
budget, but now the legislature will look at the uneven funding process
and decide how to best address the need. DSHS was also directed to work
with counties to establish a consistent policy for DD clients who
receive employment services. There are also studies funded at Evergreen
and the University of Washington on developmental disability issues.
Contact the
Arc of Washington if you would like to learn more information about this
legislative session. To view bills that have made it through this
session you can download our Bills of Interest at
http://www.arcwa.org/leg_session.htm,
then click on
Current
2008 Bills of Interest.
The Olympia Insider video podcast is a concise preview and review of
what’s happening with developmental disability advocacy in Washington’s
capitol city. Go to
http://www.arcwapodcast.org/
to view the episodes from this session.
What can you
do to help now?
Contact the Governor’s office and let her know which bills and budget
items are important to you.
The Arc of
Washington State has an Action E-list at
http://capwiz.com/arcwa/state/main/?state=WA
you can sign up for that makes it very easy for you to let your
legislators know what is important to you. The e-list can also keep you
informed when there are important legislative issues you should be aware
of. Sometimes responses to legislators are needed quickly. When it is
known what response is needed targeted to your legislator, you will
receive an email with information and a suggested email you can revise
or just send that will go directly to your legislator from you with just
the click of a button.
Your voice is still needed between now and the beginning of the next
legislative session in January 2009. Advocates and legislators will be
looking for input on which issues should be addressed in the next
session. Change is made by those who show up, don’t stop showing
up!
Thank YOU for a successful session -