Alert! Land giveaway comes at expense of supports for people with DD

The House Capital Budget includes a provision that would give the City of Shoreline 6 acres from the Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center (RHC) for a dog park and to create low income housing. This property is worth millions of dollars.

The problem is that the land at the Fircrest RHC, and any proceeds from it, are to be directed to the Dan Thompson Memorial Trust Fund to create a revenue stream for community services for people with developmental disabilities.

Parks and low-income housing are important, but the state should not give away this land at the expense of people with developmental disabilities.

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The following alert was sent from The Arc of Washington:

We need to ACT NOW to avert a catastrophic House Capital Budget proposal that would eliminate critical funding for unserved people with developmental disabilities by taking the only valuable piece of excess property in the DD Community Trust at Fircrest and give it away to the City of Shoreline for a dog park (valued around $25 million)!

Whether you support or oppose the Residential Habilitation Centers (RHC)s does not matter. This decision would not affect the operation of the RHCs, but it would eliminate funding for the unserved!

Contact House Capital Budget leadership now and flood their offices with phone calls and emails and messages TODAY!

1. If one of the legislators below represents you, call the toll-free hotline at (800) 562-6000 and leave a message telling them to “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”
2. You can call the offices of each legislator listed and ask them to “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”
3. Send an email to each legislator below and put in the email header “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”

Let’s work together to protect what little belongs to people with developmental disabilities in our state!

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• Ranking Chair: Representative Tharinger (24th District), Steve.Tharinger@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7904
• Ranking Vice Chair: Representative Doglio (22nd District), Beth.Doglio@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7992
• Ranking Vice Chair: Representative Peterson (21st District), Strom.Peterson@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7950
• Minority Chair: Representative DeBolt (20th District), Richard.DeBolt@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7896
• Minority Vice Chair: Representative Smith (10th District), Norma.Smith@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7884
• Minority Vice Chair: Representative Steele (12th District), Mike.Steele@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7832

Let's talk budget! Senate releases its proposal

• Side by side: Governor and Senate Budgets

The big difference between proposals so far? The governor's budget has more revenue (and Senate funds mental health WAY more)

The state Senate released its operating budget proposal March 21 and - as expected - in areas outside of K-12 education and mental health it made cuts, or didn't include increases that advocates sought.

While the Senate proposal does include a new state property tax, that revenue is used to offset a proposed cap on local taxes for schools. It also offsets loss of extra funding that property-poor districts get. So while the Senate puts a new tax in play, there isn't new revenue for non-K-12 education areas.

In contrast, the governor included a revenue package to support his proposal. It includes a mix of changes, including expanding the state's business and occupation tax to include service businesses, and adding a capital gains tax. You can review it here.

For complete budget proposals:

• Governor's 2017-19 budget proposal
• Senate 2017-19 operating budget proposal
• 2017-19 Interactive (lets you easily review departments and compare allocations) 

Also:

• Developmental disabilities budget detail 
• Special education budget detail 

The Arc of Washington does a great summary in chart form (see link at top) that compares budget choices for areas that are specific to disability services.

Overall, the Senate puts about $2.4 billion more into the Department of Social and Human Services (DSHS), though in part that is because the governor pulls out funding for a proposed Department of Children, Youth and Family Services. The Senate also funds Mental Health at a substantially higher rate. ($1.7 billion more.) The governor put more into Developmental Disabilities, including $45 million to fund a wage increase for community residential providers.

Some highlights:

FIRCREST: The Senate pushes forward on plans to close or consolidate the state residential habilitation centers (RHCs, also simply called "institutions"), and allocates funds to transition Fircrest School residents to community settings, nursing options, or another RHC. CONCERN: The Senate does NOT make the needed investments in community residential care to absorb new clients.