Gov. Chris Gregoire requested Senate Bill 6423, co-sponsored by Sen. Darlene Fairley of the 32nd District and Sen. Jim Hargrove of the 24th District. Fairley chairs the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee. Hargrove heads the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee.
Gregoire's proposed budget would shutter Frances Haddon Morgan Center in Bremerton and Rainier School in Buckley. But SB 6423, by authorizing DSHS to run RHCs without specifying where - if at all- puts Lakeland Village, Fircrest School and Yakima Valley School also at risk.
INSTITUTION CUTS MAKE NO SENSE, WFSE/AFSCME MEMBERS TELL SENATE BUDGET WRITERSThe Senate Ways and Means Committee Wednesday afternoon got a lengthy briefing on the consultants report closing institutions and the governor's closure plan. They don't always match up, but Federation members said they were all bad.
David Niles, a corrections officer at Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima and a member of Local 1326, said the governor had already exerted her administrative authority and the aging and elderly inmates started moving out this week.
Niles urged lawmakers to slow down the closure until they can weigh it with all the other budget reductions. "We believe this should be placed in your hands," Niles said.
Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women in Medical Lake is also on the fast track for closure outside legislative review. "It would be completely unconscionable to let Pine Lodge close without investigating why," said Helen Biddulph, an administrative assistant 4 at Pine Lodge and a member of Local 782.
Pine Lodge is the only women's facility in Eastern Washington, has top accreditation scores in the state and nation and has the only therapeutic center for women in Washington, Biddulph said. Federation members from residential habilitation centers were out in force and they yielded their time to Pat Johnson, mayor of Buckley, home of Rainier School, which the governor targets for closure. "I'm about to lose 1,000 highly skilled jobs," the mayor said. "Four hundred citizens of my community (Rainier residents) are about to lose their home."
Jerry Elliott, a juvenile rehabilitation residential counselor at Naselle Youth Camp and a member of Local 2263, said Naselle and all other JRA facilities make up a continuum of care that aims to return youthful offenders to the community who will commit no more crimes. "We need everyone of them," Elliott said. "We have to find a way to save JRA." Otherwise, he said, "you might as well take the 'R' (rehabilitation) out of JRA." "We must remain intact to do our job," Elliott said.
Budget hearings continue today and next week.
CAPITOL NUGGETS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Nugget No. 1: Rainier School Local 491 members will rally Sunday, Jan. 24, to save their facility from the chopping block. You're invited. The "Save Rainier School" rally will be 1
Nugget No. 2: Make plans to come to Olympia for our big Public Employees/Revenue coalition rally next month. It will be next month on Presidents' Day, Monday, Feb. 15, 12 noon, on the Capitol steps in Olympia.
Watch for more information or call our Legislative and Political Action Department at 1-800-562-6002 or register online to attend Lobby Day.
KEEP GETTING YOUR HOTLINE MESSAGES
Call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 and remind them: It's time for shared sacrifices on the budget. State employees have already sacrificed more than $1 billion in pay, pension contributions, health care funding and layoffs. Now is the time to raise revenue and close tax loopholes. (Feel free to add the impact of cuts on your specific program.)
HOTLINE HOURS
The legislative message Hotline is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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