Supplemental budget debate centers on public safety net
In the first legislative airing of the governor’s proposed supplemental budget, the Federation praised its attention to Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities but said it should act on Community Corrections and Children’s caseloads and parks funding.
“We’re still trying to dig our way out of the massive cuts made during the Great Recession,” the Federation’s Dennis Eagle told the House Appropriations Committee Monday (Jan. 8).
Eagle said those cuts “went too far and we’re still suffering today from those decisions.” It’s no surprise that in places like Mental Health and DD some problems remain as spotlighted in the press and social media.
The supplemental budget bill, HB 2299, tweaks the major biennial budget bill adopted last summer to fund new and unexpected spending needs.
Eagle praised the governor’s proposed supplemental spending in Mental Health for increasing the number of forensics beds and shortening forensic evaluation turnaround times.
In DD, Eagle said the governor is “stepping up” to increase staffing levels in the residential habilitation centers (Fircrest, Rainier, Yakima Valley and Lakeland) “to where they should have been all along.” The governor is also recommending expanding the State-Operated Living Alternatives (SOLA) program “for those folks who are in the RHCs and can’t find a community placement,” Eagle said.
But Federation members have concerns on a few areas of the budget.
- Community Corrections are concerned about decreasing Community Corrections officers’ caseloads with concurrent sentencing for parole violators proposal. “We believe that hampers the ability of CCOs to retain compliance with offenders who are released from prison,” Eagle said.
- Eagle said for the past 10 years there hasn’t been a vendor rate increase for chemical dependency treatment providers. “It’s desperately needed,” he said.
- The new Department of Children, Youth and Families has great potential, but adequate staffing can’t be ignored. “If we don’t bring caseloads down to the national standards, it’s not going to be successful.”
- And Eagle said the Great Recession holdover of relying on user fees to fund state parks needs to be addressed.
WATCH TESTIMONY:
