4/15/09

    This is a special update of the Federation Hotline on Wednesday, April 15.


GOVERNOR PROPOSES KEEPING BOTH GREEN HILL SCHOOL AND NASELLE YOUTH CAMP OPEN

    Gov. Chris Gregoire has weighed in on the House and Senate budget proposals and now asks that Green Hill School and Naselle Youth Camp stay open.

    In a seven-page critique of the two legislative budget plans sent April 10, the governor through her budget director said DSHS has identified an alternative to closing either Green Hill or Naselle.

    But the $7.3 million would come from closing four unspecified Juvenile Rehabilitation community facilities, eliminating two cottages from unspecified institutions and moving the basic training camp to another JRA institution. Savings would also come from administrative, support and contracted services.

    So this is mostly good news, but we need to find out which group homes and which cottages.

    The governor also weighed in on parks closures and the Washington Management Service.

On Parks, the governor appears to oppose the House amendment prohibiting parks closures because of the "opt out" funding plan. She said even with the $28 million raised by that plan, the House budget makes a net cut of $12.3 million. So, she wants the Parks Commission to have the power to close parks "that are no longer consistent with its mission."

On WMS, she also appears to oppose the House plan to cut WMS by 8 percent in each of the next two years. She wants agencies to have more discretion on where to make all cuts.

The governor’s critique is on our website at www.wfse.org > State Budget and You.

That’s it for now. Call Thursday for the next message.