March 16, 2007

Greetings from Olympia

Welcome to the first of a series of periodic updates on the legislative session and beyond. I felt this week would be a good place to start, since we’re midway through the session and have passed the cutoff date for passing bills from each chamber of origin. From here, bills passed out of the Senate will be voted on in the House of Representatives, and vice versa; bills that pass both chambers may be signed into law by the governor. Here’s where things stand with several of my major bills:

More kids throughout Washington should receive vital health care

Probably no bill consumed more of my time, and will have more far-reaching results, than Senate Bill 5093. This measure builds on the goal the Legislature set two years ago to extend health insurance to all children in Washington by 2010. Since then we have reduced the number of uninsured kids by 23 percent, which is good, but 73,000 are still not covered. My bill extends coverage to another 32,000. This is crucial because:

• Children need routine checkups to diagnose serious illnesses such as diabetes and asthma that can lead to permanent disabilities. Ask anyone who works in the health-care industry and they’ll tell that early treatment saves money and gives people better, healthier lives. These problems undermine people’s quality of life and can prevent them from reaching their potential as employees and productive members of society.
• Providing health care to uninsured children lowers the rates for everyone else because uninsured children use emergency rooms for routine medical care, racking up exorbitant costs that are passed on to those who have insurance. What’s more, kids who grow up using emergency rooms for their routine care tend to continue that practice as adults, teaching their own children to do the same and perpetuating a cycle of behavior that is as costly as it is unhealthy. I saw this firsthand when I chaired the board of Empire Health Services, which almost declared insolvency as a result of serving the uninsured. Providing coverage to uninsured kids benefits everyone.

SB 5093 was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Chris Gregoire after bipartisan passage in both the Senate and House.

Prospects are good for a veterans cemetery in Eastern Washington

Another bill Gov. Gregoire is likely to sign into law is my measure to create a veterans cemetery in the Spokane area. I sponsored SB 5058 for the nearly 140,000 veterans and their families living in Eastern Washington, including 53,000 in Spokane County veterans in Eastern Washington. They have asked for a state veterans cemetery in the Spokane area comparable to Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent. Although Kent’s is a national cemetery — and the veteran population in the Spokane area is too small to meet requirements for a federal cemetery of its own — this bill would tap primarily federal funds to build the state veterans cemetery, thus costing Washington little more than the purchase price of the land. Maintenance would be funded through the sale of specialty license plates. SB 5058 passed the Senate on a 48-0 vote and now awaits a hearing in the House. Assuming it passes there, the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs is considering two sites for the cemetery: McFarland Road near Fairchild Air Force Base and Salnave Road off Interstate 90 near Medical Lake.

We need to preserve a level playing field for our hospitals

You won’t hear about it much, but our local hospitals face a sleeping threat to their survival — a new type of facility, called a specialty hospital, that offers a limited range of care and typically does not accept emergency patients or patients on Medicare or Medicaid or who have no insurance. Statistics show that in states where specialty hospitals have been established, physicians steadily refer healthier and fully insured patients to specialty hospitals, maximizing their profits and leaving community hospitals with the burden of serving all the patients whose medical coverage pays less than the cost of their actual care. The spread of specialty hospitals was stemmed by the federal Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which prohibited physicians from referring patients to specialty hospitals in which they have ownership or investment interests. That moratorium expired in 2005 but was temporarily extended to allow further study. My Senate Bill 5398 would ensure an even playing field for both types of hospitals by requiring specialty hospitals to:

• satisfy minimum participation rates for providing services to Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries;
• provide a percentage of the charity care provided by a general hospital in the same health service area;
• provide emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or otherwise accommodate patients who need emergency services through a transfer agreement with a general hospital; and
• accept the transfer of a patient from a general hospital who requires a category of care provided by the specialty hospital.

SB 5398 passed on a 38-10 vote, with one senator excused. The measure now goes to the House of Representatives; if approved without changes there, it will go to the governor.

I will continue the fight against sex predators

My biggest frustration this year came when my legislation on behalf of child sex crime victims failed to pass out of committee. As anyone who followed my campaign for Senate knows, I think it’s imperative that we protect our kids to the full extent of the law, for as long as the law can apply. Senate Bill 5817 would have lifted the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children younger than 18. Under current law, just as an example, a rape of a child younger than 14 can be prosecuted for only up to10 years after the crime’s commission. Sex predators don’t necessarily stop or slow down with age. This change in our laws would punish predators for crimes of the past and prevent crimes against children. Although my bill came up short this year, I intend to propose a re-worked version next year.

These days, I’m literally walking the talk

On a lighter note, I’m wearing a pedometer these days to track the miles I walk through March 23. That’s the deadline for an annual competition among lawmakers sponsored by Regence BlueShield to promote healthy lifestyles. And since I sponsored legislation this year that would require 30 minutes of daily physical activity for students in early grades, I figured I’d better lead by example, so I’m really racking up the miles. I’ve made it a personal challenge to not only walk more miles than any other legislator but to break all previous records. What’s more, the three top finishers will receive awards of $3,500, $2,500 and $1,500 to donate to the health program of a school in our districts. Wish me luck!

Got a question or concern?

Come to my town hall meeting May 19

I’ll be hosting a town hall meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 19, in lounges A and B of the Student Union Building (Building 17) at Spokane Community College. If you have questions or concerns regarding any the bills I’ve sponsored, or would just like to attend and hear updates on what’s going on, I hope to see you there. Since the legislative session will have ended by then, it will be a good opportunity to review what was accomplished this year and what issues are worth pursuing next year.

Call or write anytime.

I hope you find this update helpful. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office with questions or concerns, whether they involve bills before the Legislature or topics you feel are being overlooked. If you have a concern, I want to hear it. You can reach me by e-mail at marr.chris@leg.wa.gov or by phone at 360-786-7610.

Sincerely,

Chris

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