The Senate Ways and Means Committee is considering a bill to create the Office of Fraud and Accountability within the Department of Social and Health Services. The office would be responsible for sniffing out fraud.

Sen. Mike Carrell, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee that when welfare reform was passed in 1997, employees were testifying about the large number of fraud cases with food stamps. “Now we have an EBT, electronic benefit transfer card — a debit card,” he said. On that card, food stamps and cash can be loaded. “Well last fall, King 5 TV came to me and they had found that these cards were being used at gambling casinos,” he said — about $2 million was cashed out in casinos. He says the state has since worked with casinos to make sure that doesn’t happen — but there are other abuses.

“Now we only have four real prosecutors that have criminal justice experience,” he said — this bill would increase that to 10. “I think it will pay for itself.”

He also showed a Craigslist post, offering the sale of an EBT card. “I understand that DSHS is there to help people and they should help people, but if somebody is defrauding the system … we need to do something about it.” He said 29 percent of those with EBT cards were issued three or more cards last year. He says he suspects those people are selling their cards.

Dennis Eagle with the Washington Federation of State Employees said his group is supportive. “Front line workers see examples of waste, fraud and abuse all the time and they really aren’t empowered to do anything about it. It’s frustrating, they feel helpless and it drives them nuts,” he said. He said he applauds the way the program would be set up to preserve independence — and it has whistleblower protections, too.

Sen. Rodney Tom asked why front line employees aren’t empowered to report fraud. “There’s two elements to that,” Eagle said. “Maybe you see something that looks funny, you send it up the chain, you never see anything happen … it’s disheartening in that regard. And then I think the other issue is that rightly, wrongly … most employees are afraid to say anything that might be deemed as negative or critical of the agency.”

No one else signed up to testify on the bill.

Tags: DSHS, EBT, fraud

A bill to consolidate Washington’s arts and heritage programs got a public hearing this morning in the House State Government & Tribal Affairs committee.

The measure would create a new executive agency, the Department of Heritage, Arts and Culture. Its director would be appointed by the Governor. The list of those that would be consolidated under the department include: the Washington State Library and related programs, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the state historical societies and historic preservation programs, the Washington Legacy Program, The Washington State Arts Commission, the Washington Tourism Commission, and the film and video promotion programs that are currently run by the Department of Commerce.

Several people showed up to testify on the bill. Supports said they liked the fact that the legislature was laying out its intent to support the arts, culture and heritage of the sate. But others said they are worried about what consolidation will mean for the individual programs. They said it could just mean more bureaucracy and that projects could have to compete for less money.

“The tribe’s primary concern is to make sure that archeological resources…remain protected,” said Naomi Stacy of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She said that the tribe works with the state to make sure that archeological sites and artifacts, mainly remains, are preserved and dealt with properly. “We’d like to make sure that a regulatory agency remains independent.”

“It is a bit of a conundrum,” said another person who had concerns about the bill. “Sometimes small agencies work really, really well. They have small staff; they have small overhead…In a perfect world we’d like them to be a stand alone.”

Richard Johnson, a member of the Washington State Genealogical Society said he would like to see the libraries removed from the bill. He said they are doing a great job with what money they have.

Allen Aldrich with the city of Spokane said that the proposal would save the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, also called the MAC. He said that the MAC has more than 315,000 unique and cultural objects in its collection. It creates an estimated $10,000 annually for the local economy, he said.

“Every time we merge more and more things under one umbrella, everyone gets more diluted.” said Gary Gurst, an educator that testified on behalf of himself. He said he likes the bill’s stated goals but not the way things would be carried out. Gurst said that Sam Reed, the Secretary of State, already runs the State Library with efficiency. The Library, which holds the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was transferred from an executive agency to Reed’s office earlier in the decade when the state was dealing with budget cuts.

“We think that the chair [Rep. Sam Hunt, a co-sponsor of the bill] has recognized some very difficult times and has come up with a creative solution,” said Gregory Pierce with the city of Tacoma. He said that History Museum in Tacoma has hosted more than 40,000 students in the last two years.  Funding for the museum, said Pierce, has been cut by more than 40 percent over the last few years.

Lauren Danner, who used to work for the Washington State Historical Society, spoke as private citizen. She said that the History Museum sparked the revitalization in downtown Tacoma.  ”Losing these programs is far more detrimental to the state then losing the prospect of building a new heritage center,” said Danner “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…once you lose them you can not get them back.”

Tags: arts and heritage, State Library, state museums

The 80th day of the 2011 legislative session is drawing to an end. Here is a look back of some of the day’s events:

- The House Ways and Means committee heard about a bill today that would let developers buy farmland development rights to preserve and use as credit toward anther property on urban land.

- Former Sen. Ken Jacobsen was honored this morning in the Senate.

- The Senate approved a bill that makes way for a sampling pilot program in liquor stores.

- Washington could soon recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions as domestic partnerships in this state: The bill to do that was passed by the Senate today. It has already been voted out of the House and now heads in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s direction.

- Rep. Ruth Kagi appeared in TVW’s Off the Set interview to talk about her TANF bill, which was scheduled for a vote in Thursday’s House Ways and Means committee meeting.

- A bill to extend Seattle’s stadium tax got a public hearing in Senate Ways and Means.

- Gregoire issued a statement about radiation monitoring.

Don’t forget to watch the Legislative Review, tonight at 6:30 on TVW.

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office sent out a press release this afternoon about the ongoing effort to track radiation levels in milk, precipitation and drinking water.

“Tests performed by the Environmental Protection Agency confirm that Washington milk is safe to drink. A screening sample of milk taken from Spokane on March 25 detected 0.8 pCi/L of iodine-131, which is more than 5,000 times lower than levels that would signal concern. This morning I spoke with the chief advisors for both the EPA and the FDA and they confirmed that these levels are miniscule and are far below levels of public health concern, including for infants and children.

“According to them, a pint of milk at these levels would expose an individual to less radiation than would a five hour airplane flight.

“Since the situation in Japan we have been monitoring for radiation. We will continue our monitoring and work closely with the EPA, FDA and CDC. At no point have detection levels come close to levels of concern.”

Here are some related links for the EPA and FDA:
http://www.epa.gov/japan2011/

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm247403.htm

Tags: Gov. Gregoire, Radiation Monitoring

The Senate Ways and Means Committee is considering the bill to redirect stadium tax funding to housing, arts, culture and other sources in King County.

“The revenues in this bill were always intended to be used for activities that bring more visitors to our state. This proposal honors that intent,” said King County Executive Down Constantine. “We cannot simply wait. We must act now,” he said.

Bruce Beckett with the Washington Restaurant Association says his group represents 4,500 businesses in King County. “We are supporting House Bill 1997 because it adheres to the principles that were always agreed to … which is that the tax on the food and beverages would sunset in 2015,” he said. This bill would continue the tax until 2015 instead of ending it when the stadium bonds are paid off.

Rick Slunaker with Associated General Contractors said his group is in support, too. “We are recognizing the tough choices that you all are going to have to make,” he said. “The money that will pay for these projects will largely come from outside of our community. It will provide short and long term economic benefits,” he said, including low-income housing, arts and a community development fund.

Sen. Mike Hewitt said the Legislature said they’d end the tax when the bond was paid off. “I think we all need to be thinking about that,” he said.

“I’m very troubled by that as well … however, this great recession has impacted every American,” said Larry Phillips with the King County Council. “In my adult lifetime, I’ve never seen the skyline of the city of Seattle without a crane,” he said — except now. He said this bill — through funding to the convention center — will help spark construction and get people back to work.

Shane Skinner with Enterprise Rent-A-Car said the Legislature promised to end the tax when the stadium was paid off. He said an Elway poll shows that 67 percent of people want the taxes to expire. “It’s being sold as a tourism tax — that’s absolutely not the case,” he said. He said many people who rent cars are local people with lower household incomes who can’t afford to own a car, so occasionally rent.

Tags: Seattle, stadium tax

I just spoke with Rep. Ruth Kagi, chair of the House Early Learning and Human Services committee, who also sits on the budget-writing Ways and Means committee. During our brief interview she spoke to me about a bill to reshape the TANF – or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families – program, which could get a vote out of House Ways and Means today. Rep. Kagi also said that she wants to encourage people to get out and help others, whether it is by volunteering in a classroom or dishing up meals at a shelter. Here is the complete interview.

Tags: Budget, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

The Senate just voted 28-19 to pass a bill that would recognize legal unions from other states, including same-sex marriages, as domestic partnerships in Washington. Currently the state recognizes domestic partnerships from elsewhere but does not afford any rights to same sex couples who have been married in other jurisdictions.

The proposal was voted out of the House with a 58-39 vote. Supporters of the measure said that it would help families who are traveling to Washington from other states, especially if there is an accident and medical decisions have to be made. But others said that HB 1649 is a huge policy bill and equates domestic partnerships with marriage. Opponents said that the two institutions should not be given equal standing in the law.

“To be clear, this is not about recognizing same-sex marriages,” said Sen. Craig Pridemore. He said that because of the federal Marriage Protection Act, it is necessary for states to define how they will deal with relationships created in other states. “It’s a good, common sense bill.”

“It’s the question of reciprocity,” said Sen. Don Benton. He said he wanted to caution the body that when they pass a bill that requires reciprocity with other states, they need to be sure of what exactly those other laws are. “What is the law in other states? What are you actually doing,” Benton said. He said there is not need for this bill as Washington’s law are already more liberal than several other states.

“This bill is about equality. It is absolutely necessary, in fact I would say it is critical,” said Sen. Kevin Ranker.

Here is TVW’s blog on the bill’s public hearing in the House.

Tags: Domestic partnerships, same-sex couples

With a  31-17 vote, the Senate just passed a bill to allow a pilot project for spirits sampling in 30 liquor stores around the state. The measure passed the House 80-18 on earlier this month.

“The whole purpose of this is to allow consumers to become familiar with new products,” Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles.

“I think its just a creep of the liquor board and the state liquor monopoly into what the private industry should be doing,” said Sen. Tim Sheldon. He said that while the legislature should be moving toward privatizing the sales of spirits, it instead is trying to pass several small bills that are trying to turn state liquor stores into grocery stores.

The pilot would take place under the direction of the Liquor Control Board and would last one year, starting on September 1. Stores could only hold one sampling per week and could not charge for the service. Only those who are over the legal drinking age and don’t appear to be intoxicated could participate, and they could only have four samples. The sample amounts would be restricted to a quarter-ounce each and they would have to be served by someone who has gone through an alcohol server training program. Sponsors, not store employees, would host the event and customers could not take their samples with them out of the store.

The board could exclude stores within  an “Alcohol Impact Area” from the pilot program and would provide notice to schools, churches and others that are within 500 feet of a liquor store if a sampling is going to take place there.

Tags: liquor

The Senate is honoring former Sen. Ken Jacobsen, who is visiting the Senate today.

“I’d like to personally thank you for all the help you’ve given me throughout the years,” said Sen. Tracy Eide. “We truly do miss you.” She said she always marveled at Jacobsen’s knowledge of birds, beer and parliamentary procedure.

Sen. Jim Honeyford jokingly pointed out that Jacobsen isn’t wearing a tie on the Senate floor — a violation of the rules.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen said Jacobsen was elected the same year as she. “Ken is a man who has taken the whole state into his heart … some of  us just don’t get away from being very provincial.” She said Jacobsen is missed in the Senate.

Sen. Mark Schoessler said last night he was visiting a “local establishment” in Olympia. He said he looked out in the car and saw his dog and realized that Jacobsen’s work wasn’t done yet, a reference to Jacobsen’s year-over-year effort to legalize dogs in bars.

Sen. Paull Shin said when he came to the Senate as a freshman legislator, he knew nothing about government — and Jacobsen taught him. “He even became my teacher in history,” he said.

Tags: Sen. Ken Jacobsen

The House Ways and Means Committee is holding a hearing now on a bill to allow for voluntary transfer of development rights. That’s where rural landowners sell development rights on their property to developers — meaning the farmland or forest will stay as-is, and the developer can use that credit on another property on urban land.

“I’m just one example of a few farmers that have used these voluntary rights,” said Jay Gordan, a dairy farmer. He was able to transfer development rights on his farm through a pilot program. “It was not easy for my family to decide to sell an easement,” he said: His family has lived on that land for 139 years. But his land had a pond that at one time hosted about 5 percent of the world’s trumpeter swans in the winter. Because he wanted to preserve that habitat, he voluntarily sold an easement on part of his property.

But Rep. Ed Orcutt says much of what the bill does is already available for landowners through the Growth Management Act of 1990. He said he’s concerned that the bill will only drive up costs for development.

Tags: transfer of development rights