The King County Superior Court ruled last week that Initiative 1366 is unconstitutional. I-1366 — from Tim Eyman — would decrease the state sales tax by 1 percent in April if the legislature did not pass a constitutional amendment requiring a supermajority to raise taxes. The state sales tax loss would have taken $1.4 billion out of the state budget in its first year.... Read More >>

Frustrated by recent safety findings by the federal government and the decision to postpone the opening of new units, the state House and Senate have held several hearings to understand the plan for improving Western State Hospital. Legislation has been introduced to create a legislative oversight committee, and many questions are being raised about how to move forward.... Read More >>

This morning, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee will hold a public hearing on House Bill 2730, which expands access to the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) to all licensed providers who can prescribe legend drugs, and making it easier for providers within hospitals to access PMP data. ... Read More >>

On Friday, the House Health Care & Wellness Committee will hold a public hearing for House Bill 2450, which would give critical access hospitals taking part in a pilot program the ability to return to critical access status if they so choose when the pilot is complete.... Read More >>

On Tuesday, the Senate Health Care Committee will hold a public hearing for Senate Bill 6228. The bill seeks to have Washington State participate in a multi-state compact that would streamline physician licensure and make it easier for doctors to practice in multiple states. ... Read More >>

Senate Bill 5453 proposes to allow ambulatory surgical facilities to add “recovery care centers” that would care for post-surgical patients for an extended 48 hours after surgery, in addition to the currently permitted time of 23 hours and 59 minutes. This is a slightly modified version from last year’s bill, also opposed by WSHA.... Read More >>

The Senate Government Operations & Security Committee held a public hearing on Monday regarding three bills that impose unnecessary restrictions on public hospital districts. WSHA and AWPHD strongly oppose these bills, which place unnecessary restrictions on public hospital districts.... Read More >>

A summary of the bills WSHA will testify on from Jan. 19-22.... Read More >>

We are very thankful for everyone who came down to testify! Your testimony is essential for helping legislators and the public to understand the real impact of proposed legislation. The following people testified last week: • Laurene Burton, EvergreenHealth • Ty Heim, EvergreenHealt... Read More >>

The 2016 legislative session is now underway, and this year’s session is slated to be a short one. This year, a supplemental budget year, our top budget priority is mental health, which Governor Jay Inslee also identified as a major need in his December supplemental budget. We are hoping to continue the gains in mental health funding that began last year.... Read More >>