A MEASURE that would have allowed the state Department of Social and Health Services to contract out services performed by Council 2 members for the Area Agencies on Aging appeared to have little chance of approval in this year’s legislative session.
About two weeks before the session was scheduled to end, the bill, ESB 3007, was “technically dead.”

But, warned Pat Thompson, Council 2’s Deputy Director, “they could grab the language and attach it to another bill.”

The measure’s apparent failure was largely a result of efforts by Council 2, aided by Rep. Brian Sullivan and House Speaker Frank Chop, Thompson added.

“We are still fighting DSHS’s Medicaid Integration Project in Snohomish County through attempting to include a budget provision that would delay the program until all stakeholders can assess its impact.”

Another measure being watched by Council 2 is House Bill 3048.
The bill is designed to stop those who seek to harass and intimidate public employees by requesting that their personal information be released to the public. In some cases, details have been published on specially created Web sites.

Although the bill appears to have failed in this session due to time constraints, we will be revisiting this important issue next year, Thompson says.