From our friends: An end-of-session wrap-up from LPPO

By the Rev. Paul Benz, executive director, Lutheran Public Policy Office of Washington

The just-adjourned Legislature passed and balanced all three state budgets - transportation, capital and operating. The biggest disappointment is that the operating budget was balanced by about 90 percent cuts; the rest (about $460 million) was in fund transfers. There were no revenue solutions or repeal of tax exemptions that made the light of day. The house did vote on one tax exemption bill (an out of state bank exemption for interest they earn on first mortgages.) That bill would have directed the money recovered from repealing this exemption to help preserve funding for K-3 class size reduction. The vote received a majority vote, however, Initiative 1053 requires two-thirds for any tax or fee increase - therefore the bill died - because repealing a tax exemption is being interpreted by legislative leadership as a tax increase. In this bleak picture we did never the less have some major policy victories.

Victories
HB 1362 - Preventing home foreclosures via non judicial mediation: LPPO is a part of the Alliance for the Prevention of Predatory Lending, which was the force behind getting this bill passed and signed by the governor. Bruce Neas from Columbia Legal Services was our lead lobbyist/negotiator on this and deserves a lot of credit.

SB 5769 - Transition of the Lewis County Coal Plant: LPPO is a part of the Environmental Priorities Coalition and this was its main victory of the session. Sen. Phil Rockefeller from Kitsap County deserves a lot of credit as he skillfully led the negotiations on this. Earth Ministry, a religious partner of LPPO's, was a key advocate in this effort as well.

SB 5423 - Legal Financial Obligation Reform to stop the interest rate clock during incarceration: This reform will lighten the financial burden of people coming out of prison in our state and help reduce recidivism. Nick Allen with Columbia Legal Services was key in keeping this bill moving thru the process.

HB 1277 - Adult Family Home reform and reducing elder abuse: This bill will now help provide better oversight of inspecting for abuse and greater penalties and fees for AFH owners. LPPO was a part of the Long Term Care Coalition and helped form a new group of consumers who have family members that have been abused. One worthy of noting is Ann Detlefs, member now at Peace Lutheran in West Seattle, who was very active in this effort and testified before the senate health care committee.

HB 1874 & SB 5546 - Human Trafficking: LPPO was the main religious voice in Olympia on this issue and worked with Velma Veloria and Rose Gundersen, lead lobbyists, to get these bills through. The house bill gives local law enforcement greater ability to apprehend the actual perpetrators and the senate bill strengthens the definition of the current statute regarding human trafficking.

Two bills we opposed and helped stop:
HB 1126 — the anti-gang bill proposed by the attorney general: This bill was opposed by the Community of Color coalition led by the ACLU because it focused too much on punishment and prosecution versus prevention and intervention.

HB 1577 and SB 5407 - Driver's license anti-immigrant bill: LPPO was a part of the largely Latino led coalition of communities of color and testified on the bill in the house. Both of these efforts to oppose harmful legislation are a testament to grassroots organizing.

Regarding LPPO's priorities:
In education, state funding for school lunches cut remained at $6 million and K-12 class size reduction funding was reduced.
Housing Trust Fund was preserved at $50 million. This includes $3 million to serve people with developmental disabilities, $3 million for farm worker housing, $3 million for homeless veterans, $3 million for communities of concern, and $6 million for weatherization. However, increased funding for homeless services did not pass.
Basic Health was preserved but will be reduced down to 34 thousand enrollees by the end of the biennium (July 2013), with a freeze on the new admissions for next two years. There is now a waiting list of 150,000 people for this program.
Disability Lifeline was totally restructured. For those who are not awaiting federal SSI determination, the cash grants were eliminated, though medical benefits were restored and a new Essential Needs and Housing Support Program will be available for those who are eligible. This program will be run through the Commerce Department. A new ABD (aged, blind, or disabled) program will serve those awaiting federal SSI assistance and they will be eligible for monthly grants of up to $197/month.

Thank you
Thanks to all advocates who responded to this alert during this year’s session. In these difficult times there still were victories, and though drastic cuts were made to critical programs for the most vulnerable, many programs, through the efforts of many faithful advocates, were preserved.