Issues of Interest
Click here to locate your legislative district and legislators in Washington State
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Effective July 1, 2011, the Individual and Family Services Program is reinstated in Washington state.
On June 15, 2011 Governor Gregoire signed the budget bill passed in the 2011 legislative session that reinstates The Individual and Family Services (IFS) program, which was suspended in December 2010. Finding for the program was reduced by 10 percent, but award amounts will remain the same as they were before the reduction. Individuals will need to choose between two programs.
Download and read the official Washington State Department of Health and Social Services notice
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Recent National Issues
Following are links to the Autism Society’s articles on current national U.S. legislation issues:
Action Needed: Contact Your Representatives this May 4 for the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act
Autism Society Applauds the Introduction of the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2011”
New Bill Looks to Prevent Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
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Statement of Inquiry – Chapter 388-828
DSHS is proposing to amend 388-823 which will change the eligibility requirements for individuals asking for services from DDD who have autism To stay informed or submit comments, contact the program manager, Meredith Kelly: (360) 725-3524.
Download PDF: PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
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SB 5719 – 2011-12: “Regarding tuition at institutes of higher learning for students with disabilities”
SB 5719 – 2011-12, “Regarding tuition at institutes of higher learning for students with disabilities” proposes to freeze a student with disabilities’ tuition increases, defraying higher expenses and financial burden from the on-going tuition costs and public testimony is scheduled for Tuesday, February 15th at 10 a.m. in the Cherberg Senate Building. Click here for more information on this bill and how you can help in its support.
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Shayan’s Law
Senator Keiser has scheduled “Shayan’s Law-autism insurance parity” bill (SB-5059) for public hearing on Monday, January 24 (1:30 -3:30) in Senate hearing room 4, in the Cherberg Building in Olympia.
Read PDF version of SENATE BILL 5059 (6 pages) from the State of Washington website.
See washigntonautismadvocay.org for more information and summary on this bill.
2010 Washington State Autism Profiles information available at Easter Seals website.
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WA tax collections plummet again, deficit swells
The recession has resulted in declining tax revenue, draining the budget reserves and swelling the deficit, and ultimately affecting services to the elderly and disabled.
Find the story at King 5 News
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House Human Services Committee Work Session:
Strategies for Addressing the Increase in Autism Diagnoses
This hearing was held on June 16, 2010, 10:00 a.m. in Olympia, Washington. ASW Professional Advisory Board (PAB) member Dr. Glen Tripp, Director of Developmental Services at
Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital spoke on perspectives from providers, and former PAB member Diana Stadden provided compelling testimony with her perspective as a parent.
Other speakers:
Wendy Stone, Director of the Autism Center at the University of Washington discussed early identification, intervention and outreach,
Dr. Charles Cowan, Medical Director, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, spoke on autism in Washington State and unmet needs.
Maria Nardella, Children with Special Health Care Needs Manager,
Washington Dept. of Health, provided background information on autism with task force findings, data and analysis.
Dawn Sidell of Northwest Autism Center also described her own experience and perspective as a parent.
Watch the video of the hearing:
(Alternative: Paste this url into your browser address bar: http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?EvId=2010060078)
Committee meeting documents
are available at http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/HS/
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Autism work session for June 16, 2010
In 2005, the Legislature created the Caring for Washington Individuals with Autism Task Force. The task force has examined practices in Washington and other states and made recommendations regarding the growing concerns and increased rate of autism diagnoses. In 2006, the task force found that change was needed in Washington’s infrastructure, treatment, training, and funding, and it prepared a report which contained several recommendations to effect the necessary changes.
The work session will examine the current strategies and best practices for diagnosing and providing services for persons with autism and their families and will look at how other states have addressed autism and its increased rate of diagnoses.
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BILLS OF INTEREST – February, 2010
Provided courtesy of Diana Stadden, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at
The Arc of Washington State.
The House cut-off date is 2/23/10 for policy committees, and 2/25/10 for fiscal committees.
Senate policy committee deadline is 2/26/10 and their fiscal committee deadline is 3/1/10.
March 5th is the last day for bills to get passed in either chamber.
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Op-Ed: Preserve State’s Residential Habilitation Centers
February 9, 2010
By Kris Brott
I am the sister of developmentally disabled (dd) 63-year-old twin brothers who reside at Rainier School. I also volunteer once per month there as a DJ and have a dance for any residents that can/would like to participate. Some of the comments on Rosette Royale’s story for the Olympia Newswire, “Parents, Elected Officials Seek Ways to Save Residential Care Facility”, deny some very important realities about the ongoing need for residential health centers (RHCs) in Washington state.
http://www.olympianews.org/2010/02/09/op-ed-preserve-states-residential-habilitation-centers/
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Op-Ed: Time to Close State’s Residential Habilitation Centers
February 9, 2010
by Andrea Kadlec, Director of Community Relations, Disability Rights Washington
As a single mother of two teenage daughters, both with disabilities, and someone with a journalism degree who has worked in the disability rights field for 10 years, I am continually disappointed by both media coverage and state leadership in regards to “saving” Washington State’s residential habilitation centers (RHC).
http://www.olympianews.org/2010/02/09/op-ed-time-to-close-residential-habilitation-centers/
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Delvin backs closing institutions housing disabled
By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer
OLYMPIA — About two dozen Tri-Citians with developmental disabilities sat in an unused legislative hearing room Wednesday, laughing and munching on pizza and loaded baked potatoes. They cheered when members of the Washington State Potato Commission told them their spuds came from Burbank, and showered longtime friend and ally Sen. Jerome Delvin, R-Richland, with hugs. But the trip was more than a party for this group of advocates from The Arc of Tri-Cities. They also wanted to tell lawmakers what it means to have developmental disabilities and why state money for their programs is so important. At the top of their wish list was for the Legislature to consider closing the state’s institutions and allow people to live and get services in their own communities.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/897236.html
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State budget gap estimate grows by $96 million
Posted by Jim Brunner
Washington’s budget shortfall grew by about $96 million Wednesday morning as lawmakers received the latest forecast of caseloads and enrollment costs for schools, health care and services for the poor and disabled. The new figure was reported to the Washington State Caseload Forecast Council, a group that tries to objectively measure future state expenses that lawmakers can use in writing the budget. It means state lawmakers now face roughly a $2.7 billion budget shortfall, instead of $2.6 billion.
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Budget hole deepens to $2.8 billion
That’s the thrust of today’s announcement of the February revenue forecast by the state’s top economic forecaster, Arun Raha. 
Raha says revenues should go up by about $31.5 million over the remaining 16 months of the 2009-11 biennium, which ends in June 2011. But when tax-refund implications are factored in for the state Supreme Court’s ruling last year in the Dot Foods case involving out-of-state wholesalers, the net loss to the state is $118 million, according to the governor’s Office of Financial Management. Gov. Gregoire has proposed $1.7 billion in cuts to help bridge the gap and is relying on fund transfers and about $435 million in new federal Medicaid funding to cover the rest. But she also says she wants upward of $780 million in new revenues (minus the federal aid).
http://www.theolympian.com/politicsblog/story/1135407.html
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Economic and Revenue Forecast Council offers a Bit of Good News
Posted By C.R. Roberts on February 12, 2010
There’s good news today – small, but good – from the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. The national and state economic recovery progressed “largely as we expected in November,” the council said in a release this morning. “As a result, our revision to the forecast for the current biennium is a relatively minor $31.5 million increase in the revenue forecast.” Output has grown for two consecutive quarters, the council said, and that includes a 5.7 percent surge in the fourth quarter of 2009. “As in November, we expect positive job growth for both the U.S. and Washington beginning in the current quarter.”
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Legislators should raise taxes, not make more cuts
BILL LYNE AND DESMOND SKUBI – THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
The consequences of the state’s $3.6 billion in cuts last year are severe. Nursing homes have suffered and closed. The list of people waiting for Basic Health plan has grown longer than the list of people who have it. Thousands of teachers have been laid off. Our children sit in overcrowded classrooms. Students with excellent grades, but not enough money, no longer go to college. In Bellingham, hundreds of jobs have been lost, the number of uninsured grow, children learn in overcrowded classrooms, and students at Whatcom Community College and Western Washington University pay more, get less, and take longer to graduate. This year, the Legislature and the governor must close another $2.6 billion dollar deficit, caused by the lingering recession. If they cut deeper into the muscle and bone of health care, education, and services for the elderly and disabled, Washington will not recover for years.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/291/story/1284630.html
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Why I-960 is unworkable in this grim reality
THE OLYMPIAN | • Published February 12, 2010
Standing between Democrats in the state Legislature and their vote to increase taxes to help close a $2.2 budget shortfall is Initiative 960, passed by voters in November 2007.
That initiative, which requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to raise taxes, was approved by 51.2 percent of the voters. Senate Democrats have taken the first steps toward removing the two-thirds requirement — in effect setting the stage for a tax increase vote later in this legislative session.
http://www.theolympian.com/editorials/story/1134914.html
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Whoa! Voters backed I-960 for a reason
Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board
Yakima Herald-Republic
When Senate Democrats realized earlier this week that they had actually voted on the wrong bill to suspend the two-thirds vote needed to raise state taxes, they should have hit the pause button.
Deciding to suspend the tax-limiting measure of Initiative 960 was bad enough. But they were about to erase public notification provisions that require, among other things, a public advisory vote on any tax increase.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/02/11/whoa-voters-backed-i-960-for-a-reason
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Social Services Round-Up: Contenders and Casualties
On the morning that a coalition of housing and homelessness groups goes to the Capitol campus, some important bills are surviving and others have bit the dust.
One of the more shocking defeats for one economic justice organization was Senate Bill 6648. The bill, which would have made banks and borrowers sit down to renegotiate home loans before foreclosure, lost in an odd turn of events during a night-owl session just hours before the scheduled cutoff.
http://www.olympianews.org/2010/02/12/legislative-round-up-contenders-and-casualties/
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Removal Of Asperger’s To Change Special Ed Access
by Larry Abramson February 11, 2010
The American Psychiatric Association announced Wednesday that it is proposing to eliminate the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome from the official diagnostic guide of mental disorders. The revised manual would place kids who are currently said to have Asperger’s within an expanded definition of autism. That change might affect how families get special education services in public schools. Currently, parents of children with autism turn to the federal law that guarantees a free public education for students with disabilities. Kids with autism clearly qualify, but for kids with Asperger’s, it’s much less clear. They are often highly intelligent but have social problems that make it hard for them to thrive in school.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123577220
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Other Links: Federal Legislation Issues
The Autism Society’s Vote 4 Autism Advocacy campaign keeps you informed on Action Alerts and Latest News on National Legislation:
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Let’s Talk – Join the conversation with DSHS and community members
DSHS is expanding online conversation to disabilities and other issues.
Go to http://www1.dshs.wa.gov to sign up.
Legislative Agenda for People First of Washington
People First is Washington self-advocacy organization run by and for people with disabilities.
http://www.peoplefirstofwashington.org/legislativeagenda.html
Visit ASW’s new Resource & Event Calendar
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