Latest updated bills and budget side by side

Here is the latest updated bills and budget side-by-side (not final of course)

Gregoire calls special session for Monday

Gregoire calls special session for Monday

State lawmakers rushed to pass a backlog of bills on the last day of the regular legislative session Thursday but left the hard stuff &...

By Jim Brunner and Andrew Garber

Seattle Times staff reporters

OLYMPIA — State lawmakers rushed to pass a backlog of bills on the last day of the regular legislative session Thursday but left the hard stuff — closing a $2.8 billion budget shortfall — for later.

Shortly after lawmakers applauded themselves upon adjourning the 60-day regular session, Gov. Chris Gregoire called them into special session starting Monday.

"We are at a turning point in our history and we need to get it right," Gregoire said at a late-night news conference

Gregoire urged lawmakers to finish up within seven days and keep their focus only on the budget and a jobs bill, although under the state constitution the new session can last up to 30 days and isn't limited to any particular subject.

Standing with Gregoire, House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said they believe they're close to agreement on taxes and cuts needed to balance the budget.

"We are making real progress," Chopp said.

As the clock ticked down on the regular session, lawmakers approved a package of education bills promising better funding for public schools and pledging access to quality preschool as a new state entitlement.

The Legislature also approved legislation sought by Gregoire that would allow the state to intervene in failing schools and set up new evaluations for teachers. That was aimed at helping Washington compete for a share of $4.35 billion in federal grants known as Race to the Top.

Democratic leaders said they hope to reach a deal on the budget and taxes within a few days.

"There's no great fight going on here," said Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the Senate's lead negotiator on taxes. "It's just a matter of getting more time to get through it, and we'll get through it."

The House and Senate have approved different bills that would close the budget shortfall with a combination of cuts, taxes and use of one-time fixes such as federal aid and reserves.

Murray said there's still a fundamental disagreement with the House over whether to include a general sales-tax increase.

The Senate has proposed $890 million in new taxes, including a tax on bottled water, a three-tenths of a cent increase in the state-sales tax, a boost to tobacco taxes, and an end to certain tax exemptions.

The House has proposed $680 million in new taxes, but its package does not include a sales-tax increase.

That's been a big sticking point for weeks between the two chambers. House Democratic leaders say they don't have the votes to pass a sales tax.

Murray said he has the opposite situation in the Senate. "If we don't have the sales-tax piece in there at some level, we don't have the votes for revenue," he said.

Republicans criticized Democrats for wasting taxpayer money on a special session, which costs about $20,000 a day — even as they negotiate a budget that will raise taxes.

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, was one of several Republicans who sponsored a bill to cut off lawmakers' "per diem" allowance of $90 a day for expenses while they're in a special session.

Although that bill was introduced too late to pass in the session, Carrell said he's told the Senate he won't accept the per-diem payments during the special session.

"There's no reason to keep us around here if the majority party can't get its act together. We're burning enough money down here as it is," Carrell said.

In addition to the budget talks, Gregoire and legislative leaders said they wanted to see a major jobs package as part of the discussion.

One proposal pushed by House lawmakers would use $500 million or more in state bonds to pay for energy-efficiency upgrades to public schools — with the idea of kick-starting construction jobs while saving money for schools on utility bills in the long run.

But that plan, which was questioned by the state treasurer, bogged down in the Senate.

Gregoire praised legislators for their work on education, including the Race to the Top.

The measure makes low-performing schools more accountable and creates a new teacher- and principal-evaluation system, necessary for the state to be competitive to win one of the Race to the Top grants.

The state's application for the Race to the Top program is due in June.

Many say the bill won't put Washington in a strong position to win one of the grants, which could be as much as $250 million for a state of Washington's size.

Seattle Times staff reporter Linda Shaw and The Associated Press and contributed to this report. Jim Brunner: 360-236-8267 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com.

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8268 or agarber@seattletimes.com.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011324350_olympia12m.html

Side by side budget comparison

Go Here to see an up to date developmental disabilities side by side budget comparison.

Independant Living Rally February 24

Independent Living Day Rally - February 24

PAS-Port for Change invites you to attend Independent Living Rally Day on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. The Rally is sponsored by PAS-Port, Advocacy Day-the Arc of Washington and Disability Rights Washington. There will be several speakers from the disability community and entertainment by the Raging Grannies.

February 24, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.
Capitol Steps, Olympia WA - Rain or Shine!

Let's tell our legislators how important living
in the community is for us.

Come to Olympia to be part of the action.

"Standing up for Ourselves - Yes We Can!"

The Rally begins at 11 am and will last approximately 45 min. The Columbia Room at the Capitol building is available before and after the rally.

Town Hall Meetings

Greetings!

Over the next three weeks, our elected officials in Olympia will face tough decisions about how to close the state’s budget deficit. After billions in cuts last year, the estimated $2.8 billion dollar deficit for 2010 threatens vital programs that protect the health and well being of children and families in Washington state.

This Saturday, February 20, is your chance to speak with legislators directly about proposed cuts to child welfare services, education, and children’s health, as well as bills before the legislature. Legislators from across the state are taking time off from the session to hold town hall meetings in their home districts.

These town hall meetings are a rare chance to influence your legislators mid-session while they are still working out the details of critical legislation, including the budget. By urging legislators to look at all revenue options before cutting programs, you can ensure that vital social and educational services are protected.

If you are interested in joining friends and neighbors at a local town hall on Saturday, please click on the link below:

http://fusewashington.org/page/event/search_simple

At the height of the legislative session, your elected leaders are looking for ideas and stories from constituents to take back to Olympia. Your local town hall meeting is an important venue to advocate for the needs of kids and families in Washington!

Kelly Church
Parent/Family Coalition Co-Coordinator
425-258-2459 x 107
The Arc Of Snohomish County
kelly@arcsno.org/www.snocopfc.blogspot.com

We All Belong

We All Belong

Posted January 27 2010

Advocates tell legislators loud and clear: We All Belong! Find out what it means to them and why inclusion is this year’s big message.

Check it out at http://olympiainsider.org/

Olympia Insider January 29, 2010

January 29, 2010

Work, work, work... while you can.

Last week is when a lot of committee work was being done. Bills are still being introduced, but at a much slower pace. Bills have to get a hearing and be exec'd (passed out of the committee) by next Tuesday for policy committees (February 2^nd) or by next Friday for bills in the fiscal committees (February 5^th). After those dates, bills still sitting in those committees are considered dead, well sort of. If a bill is considered Necessary To Implement the Budget (NTIB) it can still manage to stay alive if a legislator works to include it in the budget.

Some bills that got a hearing and were exec'd this week were HB 2801, which would expand tools and strategies for anti-harassment policies in schools, and HB 2865, which makes cases involving individuals with intellectual & developmental disabilities eligible to be heard in a mental health court. Self advocates were thrilled that HB 2490, the Respectful Language bill that removes mentally retarded references from state law language was exec'd from committee. Self advocates were even happier after HJM 4024, which changes the "R" word to intellectual disability in Federal laws, was heard in the House Human Services committee. Representative Dickerson told the self advocates who had testified that they had shared the best testimony she had heard this whole session. She then stopped the hearing, went into Executive Session and immediately exec'd the bill.

A new bill introduced last week and that has a hearing this coming Wednesday at 8 am is SB 6780, introduced by Senator Keiser. This is a historic bill in that it really attempts to improve community services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). It restructures our current system in which 21% of the DD budget is spent on only 3% of the DD caseload who are served in Residential Habilitation Centers (RHC), the only entitlement available. The expertise in the RHCs would now be available to individuals with DD all around the state instead of only to people in the five institutions. Those individuals needing 24 skilled nursing would be able to remain and age in place.

It also creates State Operated Living Alternatives (SOLA), where state employees currently working in the RHCs can move to smaller community settings with the clients they currently care for, making the transition to the community easier. Quality Assurance studies in our state are done on individuals who move to the community from an RHC. These studies show that after 6 years, with very few exceptions, the individuals and/or their families are happy with the community setting and would not want to move back to an RHC. Please thank Senator Keiser for her leadership in working hard to improve community services and make the transition easier for individuals to move from an RHC to the community. Check out the Action Alert at http://capwiz.com/arcwa/state/main/?state=WA

What about the budget?

We still are facing at least a $2.6 billion deficit but new economic forecasts just released are more optimistic than before. The Economic & Revenue Forecast Council will meet on February 12^th for the next revenue review. The House and the Senate budget staff are working hard behind the scenes as the House and Senate budgets should be released shortly after the forecast. To see a chart of the issues affecting those with developmental disabilities in the Governor's proposed supplemental budget go to http://www.arcwa.org/state_budget.htm

A great turn-out for this year's first Advocacy Day!

Last Wednesday was the first of the 2010 Advocacy Days. Last year blue scarves were provided at the Independent Living Day rally to advocates for community services for people with developmental disability. Last year we only provided blue scarves to advocates, last week we provided a blue scarf with a "Develop Abilities" button on it to each legislator. Self advocates also gave each legislator a button with a message about banning the "R" word to add to their scarf. Other organizations will continue to deliver buttons to legislators to add to their scarves.

If you still have your scarf, you are encouraged to wear it each time you come to Olympia. If you don't yet have on, try to wear blue colors. Scarves will be handed out to advocates on the February 24^th Advocacy Day to wear at the Independent Living Day rally. Last year we had over 700 people attend the rally. Our goal this year is to get at least 1,000 people there. Plan to attend on February 24^th. Let us know if you need help to make this happen.

Last week we had an overview of this year's session, this week our topic is on the budget. We need to ensure that legislators are funding needed services for people with developmental disabilities in the community. You can help deliver messages to all legislators with your personal message. This is a great way to help legislators understand what is important to you. To learn more about Advocacy Day go to http://www.arcwa.org/advocacy_day.htm

What can you do to help?

Announcements for the Olympia Insider issues, the Olympia Insider Podcasts and Action Alerts are sent via The Arc of Washington State Action E-list at http://capwiz.com/arcwa/state/main/?state=WA You can sign up there and the e-list makes it very easy for you to let your legislators know what is most important to you. When bills or budget items need emails or phone calls targeted to your legislator you will receive an email with basic information about the issues 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. It is also important to let the media know what is important to you so watch for Action Alerts for you to contact your local media through newspapers, radio and TV from your area as well as major outlets.

You can also participate in this process by letters, phone, email and personal visits to ask legislators to make sure that bills or budget items you are most concerned about get heard.

It is an exciting, stressful, passionate, frustrating, and rewarding journey but change is made by those who show up!

Diana Stadden

The Arc of Washington State

Policy and Advocacy Coordinator