Budget Cuts Looming
In December, Governor Gregoire released her draft budget for 2010. The state is
facing a $2.6 billion shortfall for 2010 and that’s in addition the $9 billion that
was cut last year. The Governor is required to develop a budget within the constraints
of current revenue, meaning that everything in her budget must be paid for with
existing funds. With these limitations, there are severe cuts in the budget with
many programs facing complete elimination.
The Governor plans to release a second budget in January, called a “Book 2”. With
this second budget, the Governor is no longer restricted to a balanced budget based
on existing revenue and can look at scenarios where new funding is generated. She
has indicated that she hopes to restore some cuts based on new revenue coming into
the state. Her “wish list” of restored programs include the Basic Health Plan, Apple
Health plan, general assistance for the most needy (signaling that maternity support
services is a part of this), levy equalization funds for public schools, sate financial
aid for students to attend higher education, early childhood education and kindergarten,
adult medical, dental, vision and hospice programs, developmental disability and
long-term care services.
WSNA’s Budget Priorities
In order to ensure access to care and preserve the health care safety net in Washington
State, WSNA supports the funding of the following key programs:
- Nursing Education funding including enrollment slots, nursing faculty
recruitment and retention, and scholarships/loan repayment programs.
- Public Health Nursing & Public Health funding
to ensure a basic health infrastructure to meet the critical needs
of the community such as immunization clinics, maternity support services, emergency
preparedness, and disease prevention.
- Basic Health Plan funding to meet the needs of some of the nearly
1,000,000 uninsured individual projected in Washington State in the near future.
What’s at Stake
As a state, we need to continue having difficult conversations about what we deserve
and demand as a community and how those needs will be met given the revenue shortfall. We
are calling on the Governor and our Legislators to lead us into that conversation
and examine the full range of options available to deal with this crisis.
To put it quite simply, Washington State cannot absorb these cuts without devastating
our health, safety and future. Programs facing elimination or cuts include:
- Elimination of Maternity Support Services - cutting $53 million
and services to 50,000 high risk mothers and children. These cuts would result in
the loss of 200 public health nursing positions in Seattle King County Public Health
alone. Additional public health nursing positions and services are being eliminated
or reduced in other health jurisdictions such as Spokane and Snohomish.
- Elimination of the Basic Health Plan - cutting the state’s only
health insurance program for low-income working adults. There are already as many
people on the waiting list as those enrolled. An additional 67,000 people, on top
of the 35,000 people who lost their coverage last year may lose their Basic Health
coverage.
- Slashing funding for the Apple Health program - leaving twenty
thousand children without coverage as the state reduces eligibility from 300 percent
to 205 percent of poverty level.
- Reduction of $6 million in funding for the health professional loan repayment
program.
WSNA’s Efforts
WSNA is already engaging in a dialogue about what this state needs and how we will
pay for it. We will be proactive in advocating for nursing priorities and providing
input over the next several months so that this year’s budget doesn’t see the dismantlement
of our health care infrastructure, devastating this state for years to come.
WSNA will be hard at work in Olympia in 2010 to ensure that the issues important
to nurses, nursing and health in Washington receive the funding they need to meet
the needs of our communities. We will also be working hard to keep you up to date
as the budget develops, letting you know how you can provide input to the Governor
and your legislators. Stay tuned to your email for Legislative Action Alerts and
check WSNA’s Legislative Action website for the latest news.
