The 2009 Washington State legislative session ended at the end of April, and the Governor had until May 20^th to sign or veto bills legislators had passed.  The session was dominated by a $9 billion budget shortfall.   The state is required to have a balanced budget.  To accomplish this in the 2009-2011 biennial budget, legislators chose to use $3 billion in federal stimulus funds, to shift $1.5 billion from other funds into the general operating budget, and to make $4.5 billion in budget cuts. 

 To help compensate for these budget cuts, WSCC staff worked to save “safety net” programs for poor and vulnerable people in our state.  This was done by promoting efficiencies in the provision of service and by strong advocacy efforts on behalf of those who are most likely to be harmed by the economic downturn and the service cuts in the state’s budget.  Three critical programs that were among WSCC’s priorities included:

 General Assistance Unemployable (GAU):

GAU is a state-funded program that provides small cash grants and medical coverage to low-income persons who are disabled and unable to work due to a physical or mental disability.  The Governor proposed eliminating the GAU program to help address the deficit in her biennial budget.  Elimination would have a detrimental effect on the men and women who rely on GAU and would have created higher costs in other areas of the budget.  WSCC with other advocates were successful in saving the program.

However, GAU did suffer a $65 million reduction – $40 million from medical coverage and $25 million from grant appropriations.  Eligibility requirements and the $339 monthly grant will remain the same.  The drug and alcohol treatment program will continue.  Five more counties will start the GAU managed care program, which includes mental health services.  Savings will be achieved by reducing length of time on the program through increased facilitation of SSI applications, collaboration with worker training programs, and more frequent eligibility evaluations.

The Basic Health Plan (BHP):

BHP subsidizes insurance coverage primarily for working families with low and moderate incomes whose employers do not provide health care coverage.  BHP funding was reduced by 43%, a savings of $273 million.  It is estimated that at least 40,000 people will be eliminated from the BHP program by January, 2010.

Volunteer Chore Services:

Catholic Community Services (CCS) administers the Volunteer Chore Services (VCS) contract, which serves 35 of the state’s 39 counties.  VCS allows clients to live safely and independently in their homes through a program that matches them with professionally trained volunteers who assist them with chores of everyday living.  WSCC and VCS staff were instrumental in retaining the VCS program with funding stable at the 2007-2009 biennium level of $3.7 million.