Madness in Olympia
The Legislature gears up for an assault on civil liberties, health care, the environment and workers' rights
by Washington Free Press Staff
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WA State Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000
Assault on Health Care Reform
The Health Services Act of 1993 (HSA) was an attempt to fix some of the more pressing problems in Washington's health care delivery system. The HSA addressed the issue of the growing ranks of the uninsured by requiring employers to purchase health insurance for their employees-"Employer mandates"- and requiring individuals who weren't covered by employers to purchase insurance for themselves, with financial assistance for those needing it.
Other sections of the HSA deal with reform of insurance industry malpractices such as: "Cherry picking"-refusing to sell coverage to people with chronic health problems and screening out older, less healthy people, or charging them much higher rates.
A Health Services Commission (HSC) was instructed to draw up "community rating" guidelines so that all people living in the same geographical areas would all pay close to the same rate. The HSC was also given the responsibility of coming up with a "uniform benefits package" (UBP) to serve as a comprehensive plan that all health insurance companies would have to offer at minimum. Everybody could be sure that these essential benefits would be there, no matter which plan they picked.
The state would continue to offer a "Basic Health Plan"(BHP), based upon the UBP, that would cover anybody left out of the Employer Mandates who couldn't afford to purchase their own insurance.
The plan was to achieve universal coverage with a uniform benefits package. Insurance would be portable between jobs and could not be denied because of pre-existing conditions. The rates people paid would be relatively equal in any given geographic area as a result of community rating.
Enter the Republicans. The State House of Representatives, with its large GOP majority, has passed the Dyer bill (HB 1046) which repeals the HSA entirely. In the Senate, with its one vote Democratic majority, a bill has passed to repeal employer mandates, thus throwing in the towel on universal coverage. The mandates were probably doomed anyway due to the reluctance of the federal government to grant our state an exemption to a law, referred to as ERISA, which regulates employee benefits. Without this exemption a number of companies could opt out of the system, making the employer mandates difficult if not impossible to enforce. Senate bill 5935 (the Quigley bill) which is moving through committee in the Senate, is a much scaled down version of the original HSA. This bill offers some insurance reform, including portability and limits to cherry picking, but does not provide universal coverage.
Rep. Delwo (D-Spokane), one of the originators of the HSA, believes that Lowry will decide to negotiate the best compromise he can that includes at least some measure of insurance reform and expands coverage by enlarging the number of people covered by the State's Basic Health Plan. Nobody seems to think that this expansion could come anywhere close to including the estimated 500,000 uninsured or 500,000 underinsured in Washington State. If things get too bad, there's always the veto.
-Brian King
Takings Legislation- Taking Your Money and Your Quality of Life
Initiative 164, also called the Private Property Protection Act, calls for taxpayers to compensate owners of private property for any government regulation which reduces the value of their property. Sound reasonable? Not after you take a closer look.
Essentially, any environmental regulation (i.e. zoning laws, restrictions on logging to protect salmon, etc.) which infringes on a property owner's ability to make money will be declared a government "taking" for which property owners must be compensated. The fiscal note to this legislation indicates that taxpayers will be doling out compensation to the tune of several hundred million dollars in the first two years after the law takes effect. This means it probably won't take long before lawmakers respond by refusing to enact any limits on property-no zoning, no wetlands protection, no water pollution regulations, etc.
Courts have consistently rejected this interpretation of "takings" saying it goes far beyond the intent of the constitution. A citizen's right to do what they want with their property is limited by their responsibility not to harm their neighbors. This initiative, which has already passed the House by a two-thirds majority, is about protecting private property profit rights.
As of press time, the Initiative was up for a hearing in the Senate. If it does not pass there it will go on the November ballot, since it made it onto the legislative agenda through an initiative campaign (using signature gatherers hired by extractive industries and developers). The Sierra Club and other environmental, church, labor, and health organizations have formed the No on 164 Coalition to oppose this draconian measure. If you'd like to be involved, contact Scott Taylor at the Sierra Club at 206-630-3106. Or call Senators Nita Rinehart at 786-7690 and Mary Margaret Haugen at 786-7618 to express your opinion.
-Holly Borba
Anti-Labor Bills Move to the Senate
House Bill 1738 is a "right-to-work" bill which attacks unionization in the public sector. The Bill defines the current method of collecting union dues as "sinful and tyrannical" and calls upon public managers to encourage workers to opt out of paying union dues. Although the bill originally targeted all public employees, it now focuses on teachers, but labor lobbyists see it as an opening wedge to attack public sector unionism more broadly. HB 1030, which passed the House and is now in the Senate, would rescind child labor regulations so painstakingly adopted in the last session. With this bill, a 16 or 17-year-old could work up to 10 hour days on school days, and as late into the evening as the employer wished.
Also on the docket of the Senate Labor Committee are a series of bills which attempt to privatize the worker's compensation system. Under the reasonable-sounding guise of opening up the system to competition, private companies would be able to "cherry pick" the best risks, offering these companies lower rates. As Karen Keiser of the Washington State Labor Council explained, this would allow the good risks to flow into private insurance, while the bad risks would remain with the state.
Pressure would be put on the state to start subsidizing these remaining high-cost employers, or, conversely, to cut the amount of insurance coverage. The long-term effect would be the weakening or perhaps elimination of the worker's comp. system.
The House Republicans have also demonstrated themselves to be a fair and broadminded group with HB 1065, which would repeal newly wonhealth and safety regulations for farm workers.
The Washington State Labor Council urges you to call your Senator in opposition to these bills, and to leave a message with Senate Labor Committee Chair Dwight Pelz at 360-786-7688 registering your opposition.
-Mark Gardner
Growth Management Act Threatened
Several bills coming out of the House Government Operations Committee threaten Washington's Growth Management Act. House Bill 1380 would allow 24 of the 29 counties planning under the Act to opt out of GMA provisions, essentially rendering the Act null and void. Under this proposal, counties could opt out even if the cities in the county wish to stay in.
Other proposed "reforms" would allow counties, not the State Office of Financial Management, to determine the population projections used for planning. This would encourage them to "cook the books" in order to maximize growth and offer the "best deal" to developers. The bills would also allow for planning periods longer than 20 years. County population projections covering longer periods of time would increase the number of people a plan must accommodate, thereby justifying larger urban growth areas, and encouraging sprawl.
A number of bills either eliminate the Growth Management Hearings Boards or weaken their authority. There are also bills that make it more difficult for citizens to prevail in the appeals by raising the burden of proof which citizens must meet. Express opinions on these bills to Senators Karen Frasier at 786-7642 and Mary Margaret Haugen at 786-7618.
-Holly Borba
25 Years of Reform Down the Tubes
House Bill 1010 calls for the "elimination of onerous regulations" and would virtually eliminate the enforcement powers of regulatory agencies such as the Department of Revenue, the Insurance Commissioner, and the Department of Labor and Industries.
HB 1010 and Senate Bill 5132 (along with a host of other bills too numerous to mention) call for the elimination or "sunset" of all state regulations within 7 years. They also set up new criteria to evaluate regulations which would make it virtually impossible to put public health and environmental safeguards back in place.
Environmental regulations would have to take the "least burdensome" approach to business/economic interests. "Under the guise of streamlining government, our current legislative leaders are in the process of destroying 25 years worth of protection for individuals and communities," said Bruce Wishart, lobbyist for the Sierra Club. According to Wishart, in the last year, the Department of Ecology discovered approximately 8000 violations of state regulations. Of those violations, only 107 penalties were issued. "We already have very little enforcement. This bill would weaken those powers even more." Call Senators Nita Rinehart at 786-7690 or Mary Margaret Haugen at 786-7618 to express your opinion.
-Holly Borba
Return of the Penisators
The Washington State Legislature is again attempting to enact a draconian law to protect Washington's youth from publications, pictures, films, and live performances deemed unsuitable for minors. The bill in question, Senate Bill 5466 (SB 5466) has already passed by a vote of 41-6, and is currently being discussed in the House. SB 5466 would charge business owners with determining the ambiguous "community standards" which govern what is suitable for minors to purchase, view, or hear, and what is not. Should this bill become law, it is easy to imagine a situation in which business owners, theater companies, and art galleries practice self-censorship in order to avoid the risk of prosecution.
SB 5466 is virtually identical to SB 6003, which was passed last year only to be vetoed by Governor Lowry at the end of the session when a legislative override was impossible. Like last year's bill, this one would also protect Washington's youth from the mysterious "penisators" and "vibrillators." This year, in order to avoid the political repercussions which come with an overturned veto, Lowry has attempted to have the language of the bill softened so that he will feel he is able to sign it.
The version which passed the Senate includes exemptions for libraries, museums and matter given with parental consent, and would not restrict "sound recordings," but the House has expressed its desire to make the bill more restrictive. Regardless of the language in its final form, the bill is a severe threat to civil liberties. Resistance is being led by the Washington Music Industry Coalition, which is encouraging people to write or call Lowry (360-753-6780) and let him know that this assault on civil liberties deserves his veto.
-Andy Bauck
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Contents on this page were published in the April/May, 1995 edition of the Washington Free
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