Sine Die 2026

The 2026 legislative session is officially over. 

We had many bills pass that will help those with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities. 

SB 5863 — An Act relating to the Preservation and inspection of state historical records: Protects historic records stored at Lakeland Village, ensuring they are not destroyed before 2030. These records are essential to telling the history of people with developmental disabilities.

SHB 2350— Increasing RHC compliance transparency: Requires notification to residents and guardians when a Residential Habilitation Center (RHC) is out of compliance with federal Medicare/Medicaid requirements.

SHB 1390— Repealing the Community Protection Program: Eliminates an overly restrictive program for people with developmental disabilities who have had legal involvement. The program goes away, but services and supports to the individual do not. (Note: this is distinct from the Community Protect Act, which addresses sex offenders.)

ESHB 1795— Addressing Restraint and isolation of students in public schools: Prohibits particularly egregious restraints and bans construction of new isolation rooms. It’s an important step forward, though more work remains.

SHB 2230— Streamlining monitoring and oversight activities for related to community residential service providers: This smart bill brought by Community Residential Services Alliance (CRSA), reduces duplicated inspections and audits, saving provider and state staff time and ultimately money.

SSB 5969- Fulfilling high school and beyond plan requirements with individualized education program transition plans.

SSB 6268— Maintaining an online record of special education complaint decisions. Provides access to previous complaints to families, individuals, districts, and others.

SHB 2323— Establishing a blue envelope program. Provides for neurodivergent drivers to carry a blue envelope in the car that explains their disability if they are pulled over.

 

We had some budget wins as well!

No changes to Long Term Care eligibility or the DD waiver (avoided potential loss of services for ~2,500 people).
No provider rate cuts — protecting provider networks and workforce.
No cuts to Birth-to-Three/ESIT funding — avoided a proposed rollback that would have cut about $30 million.
No elimination of adult Medicaid therapies (OT, PT, SLP). Making sure people continue to have access to these vital services.
No cuts to school-based Medicaid match funding — the House’s proposed 25% state match cut did not make the final budget. 

For a full list of bills and budget wins, please check out the Arc of WA website www.arcwa.org  

Legislative Session is almost finished

This year's Legislative Session is almost over.

Bills are passing out of their houses and are moving out for the Governor to sign.

The last hurdle is the State Budget which is continuing through it's process.

Bills (Almost) Across the Finish Line

1795 Reducing Restraint and Isolation of students in public schools

5969 Reducing duplication in High School & Beyond Plans and Transitional IEP's

2557 Providing parental access to special education evaluation reports five days before IEP meetings

Budget Roller-Coaster

The Good

There will be NO changes to eligibility for Developmental Disabilities Community Services waivers, and there are no cuts to the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers program. Yay!!!

The Bad, and the Very Ugly

House and Senate budgets have passed out of their house of origin. Included in these budgets are the following - and they are concerning.

Elimination of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy for Adults on Medicaid. This includes ALL adults on Medicaid.

A big reduction in DDCS funding has been added to both the House and Senate budgets that will cut funds for Individual Employment, Community Inclusion, and Community Respite. It will also reduce the number of Transition Students being able to get Basic+ waivers when they graduate, and will potential eliminate all Info and Ed funding for programs like Parent Coalition and Parent to Parent. This will reduce services, create even more waitlists, and cut waiver slots available for new clients.

UGH!

NOW is the time to call your legislators and let them know how this cut will effect your loved ones.

The current budget comparison chart is on the Arc of WA website.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jwDMIZ8pLdvQKFuZ5G2-BROIbGcK1jHP41BNOtmAM3M/edit?gid=0#gid=0