Following the money: State budget update from Rep. Ramel

||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. ALEX RAMEL |||

With two and a half weeks until the legislative session is scheduled to end, we are working to reconcile differences between the House and Senate proposed Operating budget, Capital (Construction) budget, and Transportation budget. This year, the House is poised to make historic investments in housing assistance, behavioral healthcare and wrap-around services, K-12 education, and targeted funding for the ferry system.

Capital Budget

The Housing Trust Fund is a competitive grant program supporting the construction and renovation of affordable housing units for low-income and overburdened populations in need of permanent supportive housing. This year, the legislature is making its largest investment in history to the Housing Trust Fund. While this investment is a positive start, more will need to be done next year to support Washingtonians who need supportive housing the most. 

In 2022, Skagit County opened its Evaluation and Treatment Center in Sedro-Woolley. This completed the first phase of the Skagit County Stabilization Campus providing facilities for inpatient mental health services. People experiencing a mental health crisis need urgent help, neither jail nor the hospital is the right place for them, but there aren’t enough beds in our community for this need. This year, with the support of legislators from across Skagit County, the House Capital Budget provides $12.7 million for the second phase of this project to increase the number of available beds from 16 to 32, as well as an additional 32 co-occurring treatment and acute detox beds.

Similarly, thanks to leadership in from our colleagues in the 42nd district, we’ve prioritized $9 million for a 23-hour Crisis Relief Center in Bellingham. Providing accessible care for mental health and substance use care is critical in addressing this issue in our community. The facility would accept all behavioral health crisis walk-ins and drop-offs from first responders; and be staffed with a Designated Crisis Responder.

Operating Budget

Our K-12 educational system is facing real challenges. Inflation has increased cost, workforce shortages have been especially challenging in this sector, and declining enrollment has meant a reduction in per-student funding sources. We’ve heard clearly from our districts, our teachers, and the community that we need to do more for our students and schools. The House budget is a good start, and includes increased funding for special education, increased salary allocations for inflation, and School Employee’s Benefits Board (SEBB) health benefit rate increases. We’ve also expanded the free school meals program because we know that hungry kids can’t learn. I know we have more to do to respond to the perfect storm of challenges our school districts are facing, and I’ll keep pushing us to do more.

At our town hall, we heard that there’s a need to support health care for uninsured adults. The proposed operating budget dedicates funding to the Health Care Authority, the Health Benefit Exchange, and the Caseload Forecast Council for the expansion of Medicaid-equivalent health care coverage. This will increase access to healthcare for uninsured adults who have an income of up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, regardless of immigration status.

Funding for primary care, family planning, and behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled patients will also increase through increased professional services rates. Apple Health clients will also benefit from increased provider rates and reimbursements. Lastly, behavioral health provider rates paid through the Medicaid Managed Care Organizations and Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organization are proposed to increase by 15 percent. 

Transportation Budget

Supporting reliable ferry operations in the Transportation budget is a top priority. This year, overall operating funding for Washington State Ferries (WSF) is proposed to be $728 million, up $141 million from the previous biennial budget.  Investments focus on workforce development, vessel maintenance, and future procurement of ferries.

To address workforce shortages, funding will be targeted to increase the ranks of Licensed Deck Officers through a pathway for existing WSF able-bodied sailors. The budget also funds: entry-level engine room positions that don’t require any previous credentials or experience, six additional apprenticeships at a maintenance facility, development of a joint recruitment plan focused on women and people of color, and increases human resource capacity for WSF’s hiring, recruitment and retention efforts. Supporting crew needs will be essential for service reliability of the 450 sailings per day.

Overall capital funding for Washington State Ferries (WSF) is $527 million in the proposed House budget. This includes preservation of terminals and vessels, improvements to modernize vessels and terminals, and funding for the first of 4 hybrid-electric Olympic Class vessels. In addition, House Bill 1846/Senate Bill 5760 will adopt a streamlined value-based bid on the procurement of new vessels, replacing the current low-bid. Other ferry funding to make note of is $29.5 million for systems to assist travelers and increase the efficiency of operations, including $10 million for a new dispatch system, $8 million to modernize ticketing and reservations, $5 million for a system to provide better traveler information about wait times, $5.5 million to update visual paging systems, and $1 million for replacing the vessel scheduling system. 

In combination, I believe this year’s biennial transportation budget makes the type of targeted investments in our state ferry system that will increase reliability in the future. I am hopeful that working in partnership with the Senate, we will pass a final budget that holds these shared priorities.

Multi-Modal Zero-Emission Transportation

Through the Department of Transportation’s Innovative Partnerships Program, the proposed transportation budget includes funding for zero emission school buses, including the purchase and installation of zero-emission refueling infrastructure and hydrogen refueling infrastructure investments. This will be provided with the support of the Zero Emission Vehicle Access Program from the Carbon Emissions Reduction Account.

Share your thoughts with me

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting members from the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project. Connecting with you during session helps guide me in addressing the needs of our communities across the 40^th district.

If you come down to Olympia, please schedule a time for us to meet by emailing our office, so you can share your priorities with me. My staff and I are also happy to meet remotely.