A highly contested bill around the closure of a residential center for people with disabilities passed the Washington state House and Senate this weekend with mixed support from lawmakers and some major changes.
Senate Bill 5393 intended to shutter Rainier School, a rehabilitation center in Pierce County for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, by June 30, 2027.
But a Republican amendment approved on the House floor, and agreed to by the Senate, will instead prohibit new long-term admissions starting July 27 this year and stop short-term admissions starting June 30, 2027.
Under the amended version, the center would close when there are no more long-term residents. Former long-term residents would have the ability to return within one year of transitioning out of the center.
The rewrite gained some Republican support but lost some among Democrats.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, was one of the lawmakers concerned that the bill was rushing the closure and didn’t have enough safeguards. He and other GOP legislators walked out of a House committee hearing this week when the panel advanced the legislation.
After the amendment, he felt better about the bill, even though he still voted against it.
“This is a pill I can swallow,” Couture said.
The bill would also require the Department of Social and Health Services to provide regular reports to the Legislature until June 1, 2030, and offer residents the choice of alternative placements with careful planning.
It now heads to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk.
Debates around the closure of the Rainier School and the similar Yakima Valley School have been a hot topic in the Legislature this session.
Rainier School has faced scrutiny in recent years over incidents of abuse, neglect and safety lapses. Some disability rights advocates have pushed for its closure.
The facilities are also expensive, with a year of services for a patient at Rainier running around $775,000. Proponents of closing them said it could allow for resources to be shifted in a way that gives people improved options for services and reduces costs for the state.
“This isn’t about buildings or dollars, this is about the people who live at Rainier, people who have been hurt, forgotten, ignored, and betrayed,” said Rep. Darya Farivar, D-Seattle.
“If home means fear, being silenced, bruised, and even death, we have an obligation to show some better options,” Farivar added.
But Republicans argued that centers like Rainier provide a crucial form of services and care and that people would be left with few nearby options if the center were to close.
Workers at the facilities also opposed the closure plans.
In 2017, the Legislature passed a bill that would close the Yakima Valley School once the number of permanent residents had dwindled to eight people. There are roughly 36 long-term residents at the center, according to figures presented to lawmakers.
A House bill that stalled this year proposed closing both the Rainier and Yakima Valley schools by June 30, 2027.
The amended version of Senate Bill 5393 does not change when the Yakima Valley School would close.
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