2010 Legislative Session Recap
A Victory For Community Employment
We agreed with Governor Gregoire that "jobs are the way out of this recession", and the way to get Washington State back on track heading toward economic recovery.
From the opening gavel on January 11th, to the final vote of the special session that ended April 13, we lobbied the House and Senate to stand up to the budget crisis with new revenue, and keep funding employment services for people with disabilities in their 2010 Supplemental Operating Budget that kicks in July 1.
We Were Successful in Maintaining Funding for Supported Employment Services
With 8,358 people with developmental disabilities relying on supported employment services for the training, guidance and follow-along support they need to stay employed, we fought to stop any further cuts to Counties for employment and day services. The House and Senate agreed and proposals to cut another 3% out of the Counties' DDD employment and day services allocations were dropped.
We were also successful in keeping 'State only' funding of supported employment services for the hundreds of people who do not qualify for placement on Federal waivers.
All in all, our actions kept $3,850,000 from being cut out of the budget.
We Secured Funding for Transition Services
Knowing that 2009-2011 Biennial Budget had not provided any funding for the 1,401 students transitioning from school to work, we worked extra hard to secure funding in the Supplemental Budget. With a combination of funding mechanisms and waiver matching, we were able to secure $6,300,000 to support all 1,401 transitioning students.
We Had a Winning Team These successes were accomplished by the work of an active legislative committee, a well respected human services lobbyist, grass roots lobbying by Alliance members and professional staffing. A big thank you to:
Tom Gaulke, Legislative Committee Chairman
Seth Dawson, Human Services Lobbyist
Ron Gibbs, Executive Director and Lobbyist
Committee Members:
Chris Brandt, Ces Coulson, Jim Larson, Cathy Ann Mallman, Alison McCormick, Carrie McGrath, Sara McIlvaine, Anton Saunsaucie, and Gina Solberg.
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