By Liv Finne
A guest column in the May 7 Sunday Herald by state Sen. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, says the Senate-passed budget, “includes cuts to popular programs including women’s health care, homeless assistance, toxic cleanup programs and more.”
Not true. Whenever I hear a claim that sounds suspicious, I like to go right to the source and get the truth. In reading the Senate-passed budget proposal for 2017-19 I found that it would not cut the agencies that provide women’s health care, homeless assistance or toxic cleanup (I was unable to assess the claim about cuts to “and more” due to lack of detail).
Here’s what the Senate-passed budget says:
Department of Social and Health Services, raise funding from $6.38 billion to $6.97 billion, a 9.4 percent increase.
Other human services, raise funding from $5.9 to $6.3 billion, a 7.2 percent increase.
Department of Natural Resources, raise funding from $79.8 to $98 million, a 23 percent increase, including $991,000 to implement the Forest Health Plan.
Of course these large increases are in “top-line” funding for state agencies. What is important to citizens is funding for specific programs that serve the public. So here’s a breakdown:
Mental health, $52 million to hire 137 staff to improve safety and security at state hospitals.
Developmental disabilities, $32 million to increase payments to service providers for people with long-term care needs and developmental disabilities.
Children and Family Services, $160,000 for the Pediatric Interim Care Center, plus $194,000 to increase the pay of family child care providers, and $215,000 to provide shelter for homeless youth.
The Washington State Health Care Authority, raising funding from $4 billion to $4.2 billion, a 5.5 percent increase.
Public health programs, raise funding from $118 million to $129 million, a 9.5 percent increase, including $2.3 million to test drinking water at public schools, expand treatment for hepatitis C for Medicaid patients, and $3.4 million to promote child oral health.
There is a claim the Senate-passed bill would lower “professional standards” for teachers. That’s also not true.
This provision would remove one of the worst inequities in public education that prevents children from gaining access to the best teachers. State law allows private schools to hire any qualified teacher, often people who bring professional and life experiences to the classroom (RCW 28A.195.010). Public schools are barred from hiring any qualified instructor, and may only hire teachers from a restricted union-approved list kept by the state. For example, the law permits a college professor with a doctorate in math to teach at a Catholic high school but not at a public one.
The Senate provision would not put “unqualified” teachers in the classroom, as claimed. It would remove an inequity in state law by putting public school children on an equal footing with kids in private schools. After all, why shouldn’t public school children have equal access to the best teachers available? If a retired Boeing engineer, for example, wants to help part-time in a public school science class, why not let her?
In sum, there are a lot of untruths being thrown around about the Senate-passed budget proposal. State budgets are hard to read, but one thing is clear, the state senate does not propose to cut women’s health care, homeless assistance and toxic cleanup. Rather, the Senate-passed budget increases funding in these areas, just not in the precise ways that some House members would like.
Liv Finne is the director of the Washington Policy Center’s Center for Education.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
