2023 Legislative Session: Sine Die!
And that's a wrap.
Check out the Arc of WA Advocacy page for the bills that passed and the State Capital and Operating Budgets for 2023-2025
Budget Summary Side-by-Side for IDD Issues:
Senate/House/Final Capital Budget 4/24/23
Governor/Senate/House/Final Operating Budget 4/24/23
2023 Bills of Interest Final 4/24/23
Only a couple of weeks left in this year's Legislative Session.
Arc of WA Advocacy page - https://arcwa.org/billtracker/
Bills of Interest that are continuing to move forward include (but are not limited to....)
HB 1222 Include health carrier coverage of hearing aids, auditory training and ear molds
HB 1407 Removing the "age 10" re-eligibility requirement for Developmental Disability Administration services
SB 5311 Increasing Special Education Funding
HB 1541 Nothing About Us Without Us Act
HB 1694 Allowing extended family members (grandparents, siblings, etc) to become Independent Care Providers with a reduced training requirement (30 hours instead of 70 hours)
and...
the Senate, House and Governor's proposed Budgets are also now on the Arc of WA website to check out. https://arcwa.org/billtracker/
If you like to dig deep into data and reports, here's the one for you.
The 2022 Caseload and Cost Report for DDA Services has all the info you need for the WHO's getting services or not, WHAT services were accessed, WHERE people live and WHERE services are, and much more.
Check it out here
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/DDA/dda/documents/2022DSHSDDACaseloadandCostReport.pdf
This years legislative session is off and running.
The best way to keep track on the bills, hearings and timelines is to check out the Bill Tracker page on the Arc of WA website.
https://arcwa.org/billtracker/
On this page, you will find the 2023 Bills of Interest, the Legislative Hearing Schedule, the Governor's proposed budget and the Arc of WA's Public Policy Agenda.
January 18th – Briefing on IDD Issues, 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkcuuoqDgvGtx8YBxiPsMfQ-lUUW569Zl9
January 18th – Statewide IDD Legislative Reception, 5:30 to 7:00 pm
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtdeCsqDgvGtdTeBb8wkoPnhnwrcTb6xGO
The 2023 Legislative Notebook is now online!
Check it out at
https://arcwa.org/2023-
Advocacy Days, part of The Arc’s Advocacy Partnership Project, are held during each legislative session to involve individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), their families and their service providers in the legislative process, giving them opportunities to make their voices heard by their legislators and to have an impact on policy and budget legislation that affects the services and supports available to them. To make the meetings more accessible to people all around the state, we have moved to a virtual platform on Zoom.
For the list of topics and to register for Advocacy Days, please go to the Arc of WA website.
