Trivia Answers

The Washington state fiscal year ends each June 30^th.  If July 1^st hits and the state does not have an enacted budget in place, a chain of events that no one wants to see is set off.  Under ideal circumstances, the Legislature will pass a budget prior to adjourning sine die in April (odd-numbered years) or March (even-numbered years).  This timing gives the Governor and their staff ample time to review the budget components, prepare any necessary vetoes and sign the budget well in advance of the start of the next fiscal year.

During the intense years in the mid 2010’s when the state was working to meet its judicial mandate to fully fund basic education (the so called “McCleary decision”), the Legislature went a few years where they did not adopt a budget prior to the scheduled adjournment date, necessitating that the Governor call one (or more) special sessions to resolve issues and ultimately pass a budget.

Back to our trivia question. The 2017 budget deliberations went down to the wire with both the Senate and the House of Representatives passing the budget on June 30^th.  As you can see from the pictures below, the Governor was on hand at the Capitol that night and signed the budget just prior to midnight, July 1^st.  Crisis averted!

Since 2017, all of the budgets have passed well-before the end of the fiscal year. The jury is out if that on-time trend will continue in 2021, but I am hopeful.

Governor Inslee in the House wings observing House budget deliberations on June 30th

Success!  Governor Inslee signing the 2017-2019 biennial budget just before the stroke of midnight July 1, 2017 (See – same suit and tie as in the picture above)

Photos Courtesy Spokesman Review Archives

“As a child care provider, I always imagined I’d do something with new parents,” recalls Tina Greer, a doula for the Child Abuse Council’s Healthy Families program in the Quad Cities, one of the 30 home visiting programs in Start Early’s Home Visiting & Doula Network.

Tina was propelled to become a doula after experiencing the unimaginable loss of her own son at just 17-days old. She knew becoming a doula combine her passion for social work and new families. She also knew that having experienced loss equipped her with the empathy and resources to help families in similar situations. Now, nearly four years later, Tina is close to securing her Stillbirthday Bereavement Certification so that she can offer parents experiencing loss this unique support.

“You have to turn that loss into something positive otherwise it’s unbearable to live with,” she reflects.

Making Impact for Those Most in Need

As a doula, Tina helps each birthing person achieve their healthiest pregnancy, labor and birth possible by providing educational, emotional and physical support at every stage of the journey.

Tina believes her own experiences — as a first-time mother relying on WIC and Medicaid, and as the daughter of a teenage mother who was in the situation a lot of her clients are in now — help her relate to her clients on a deeper level.

“It’s really important that people in underserved communities get the access they deserve to professional pregnancy, labor, and postpartum support,” Tina shares. “We help all families realize they can bond with their baby in the womb, that they have a voice when they go the hospital and options during labor and birth.”

One of her favorite parts of her work is teaching parents ways to bond with their babies through modeling. “I help show how easy it is to talk with a developing baby,” she explains. “Some parents aren’t comfortable reading to a baby in utero but seeing me put myself into an awkward situation and model this can make them more open to trying it themselves.”

For Tina, watching parents grow into their roles is the ultimate reward. “It’s incredible to watch the transformation into parenthood,” she shares. “I get excited and overjoyed watching the families I work with utilize tools I helped equip them with during pregnancy.”

A Champion for Mental Health Care

Tina’s personal relationship with each pregnant person helps her ensure they receive the necessary support throughout their prenatal journey, including mental health supports.

Tina recalls one young mother, who disclosed that she was struggling with depression as a result of sexual abuse as they walked through her birth plan. When Tina asked if the mother had talked to her provider about it, the mother responded that she hadn’t and was too afraid to bring it up.

“She was too afraid that if they found out she was depressed and had all of this past trauma, they would take her baby away,” Tina recalls.

Tina secured the young mom’s consent to attend her next prenatal appointment with the mother and gently raise the issue of mental health and postpartum depression with the OB-GYN, eventually leading to a referral for therapy and medication.

“For someone in the medical field to tell her, ‘You have the potential to be a great mom with depression,’ that was all she needed. She became more confident as a parent.”

Tina also ensured that the young mother was able to establish safe boundaries with her nurses and doctor during labor. “When we did her birth plan, she wrote at the top in red ‘I am a survivor of sexual trauma. Do not put your hands on me without my consent.’ And as a result, everyone was very respectful of her space and boundaries,” she remembers.

Virtual Support and Moving Beyond the Pandemic

Given the hands-on nature of her work, the transition to virtual support has been “a wild ride” for Tina. “It’s been very challenging to not get to see my clients face-to-face if they don’t have the ability to do Zoom or Facetime,” she shares.

To follow state guidelines during the pandemic, Tina had to stay out of the hospital room with her laboring clients, so she used a sanitized traveling tablet to virtually interact instead. “I haven’t been to a birth since March 2020 and that has been heartbreaking to not be in the room with my clients,” she says.

One surprise benefit of the virtual outreach is the ability to engage on a more personal level. “I have my kids running around in the background when I’m on Zoom and it has taken a layer of professionalism away,” she admits. “But it’s also allowed my clients to connect to me because they see I’m real and struggling like they are.”

As the pandemic subsides, Tina is eager to get back into the labor and delivery room with her clients because, as she says, “Research has shown that having continuous labor support creates better birth outcomes.” She knows the benefits of the presence of doulas in birth and in the postpartum period play an important role in helping parents and infants create a foundation for success.

Trivia Answers

In Capitol lingo, a “guber” is the nickname for the approval process for gubernatorial appointees.

Our state’s Governor has the authority to appoint scores of people to positions ranging from directors of state agencies to specific boards and commissions. Some of these appointments require Senate approval, just like a piece of legislation. Gubernatorial appointments that require Senate confirmation start with a hearing in the appropriate policy committee, followed by a committee vote and then consideration by the full Senate. These Senate approvals are not on a set schedule and if you are following an appointment you have to stay on your toes, because the Senate will often run “gubers” with little notice when they have lulls in their floor activity (case in point detailed below).

Recently, our state’s new Director of Health, Dr. Umair Shah, had his confirmation hearing virtually in the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee. In his opening remarks, Dr. Shah noted he had big shoes to fill for the position following the service of the previous two Secretaries, Dr. John Wiesman and Mary Selecky.

I am fortunate to work with Mary Selecky and I asked her if she would be willing to be interviewed to talk about her confirmation process and her 14 years of service as the Secretary of the Department of Health. Mary kindly agreed and she shared wonderful stories and insights into her experience. Full disclosure – we could have talked for hours and I hung up realizing I neglected to ask ¾ of my questions, including getting her thoughts on the pandemic and other pressing public health issues.

The Path to Leading a State Agency. For 20 years, Mary served as the Administrator of the Northeast Tri-County Health District, headquartered in Colville. She loved that role and loves her community. As a Health District Administrator, she was active in state-level work (known for being the voice for rural communities), helping to establish an independent Department of Health in the 1980s.

When the Secretary of Health position became open at the state level in the late 1990s, applying for the position was not on her radar. She was eventually convinced to assume the role of Acting Secretary in 1998 while then Governor Locke continued a search for a permanent Secretary. During her time as Acting Secretary, she maintained her Administrator job, going back and forth between Olympia and Colville (a practice she would continue). She called this her “public health mission.” Six months into her role as Acting Secretary, she was persuaded to apply for the permanent role and Governor Locke formally appointed Mary to the Secretary position on the “Ides of March” in 1999.

As I mentioned above, approval of “gubers” are not always scheduled with advance notice. When Mary’s came up, she was fortunately already at the Capitol. She was kneeled down, making a budget pitch to a Senator who was seated on a couch when someone alerted her to go to the gallery to watch her confirmation.

This was before cell phones were prevalent, so Mary sat in the Senate Gallery by herself, listening to Senators’ speeches supporting her appointment. She recalled that the joke afterwards was that people took away that Mary is “a nurse, a sister and a Quaker” because of comments made by Senators speaking in support of her confirmation. Former Senator Rosa Franklin called her a sister and fellow University of Pennsylvania alum Senator Tim Sheldon made the Quaker comment (the Penn mascot).

Stay Connected and Stay Local. After Mary assumed the role of Secretary, she continued to return to Colville, although her visits switched to twice a month and she realized that Colville had become the “suitcase part of her life.” Mary said she undertook this eight-hour drive because she felt it was important to get out of the Olympia bubble and the I-5 corridor and get the grounding of being home.

Mary spoke of being in the grocery store and having a neighbor speak to her about how the area’s lead mines were impacting the groundwater, leading to lead appearing in the neighbor’s carrot crop. Not information she would naturally pick up in Olympia! These continued relationships and connections allowed her to more seamlessly transition when her time as Secretary concluded when she retired in 2013 and returned to Colville.

The Importance of Support. When Mary was first appointed Secretary of the Department of Health in 1999, there were only four female Cabinet members. When Governor Gregoire was elected in 2004, she added more women to the Cabinet. Governor Gregoire set out to build a culture where the female Cabinet members supported each other both personally and professionally. They often had dinner together at restaurants in Olympia and at times Governor Gregoire would herself join. Mary shared that at one Cabinet meeting, the female Cabinet members decided to each incorporate some form of Cheetah print into their attire. Their male colleagues did not notice and, when alerted, they responded by wearing blue dress shirts at a future Cabinet meeting.

Governor Gregoire and Secretary Mary Selecky at a press conference. Given the serious look on Governor Gregoire’s face, this may have been around the time the Seattle Times ran a three-day series “Licensed to Harm” that led to reforms of the state’s licensing of medical professionals that Mary oversaw.

It is not a surprise that Mary paid this culture of camaraderie and support forward. The current Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins worked as Mary’s Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health. Mary was proud to sit in the gallery when Speaker Jinkins was sworn in and be introduced as a friend and mentor.

Final Reflections. Mary continues to be very active in local, regional, state and national work. She is the current chair of Empire Health Foundation in Eastern Washington, sits on two Providence boards and is very active in her Rotary. In fact, her local youth Rotary group (Interact) honored Mary in March as a local person who puts service above self. As a fellow Rotarian, I can attest that Mary exemplifies the Rotary motto.

Mary remains engaged in state activity and I suspect her phone rings a lot with people seeking her counsel. I will end with a personal story. On the day Speaker Jinkins was sworn in as Speaker, I had the pleasure of having coffee with Mary and another colleague in the infamous Dome Deli at the Capitol.  We were hardly able to finish a sentence because a never-ending line of people wanted to chat with Mary. It was like being with a Hollywood movie star!

Secretary Selecky at a school anti-smoking rally (note her shirt says “No Stank You”)

Thank you, Mary, for your continued service to Washington state and for sharing some of these amazing stories.

As the director of Start Early’s Enterprise Project Management Office, Colleen Vehr knew the early months and years of a child’s life are critical to their learning, growth, and development. Knowing this, she was particularly grateful to be able to have extended time away from work to focus on her rapidly growing family and providing for her newborns’ needs as they grew and changed each day.

As a mother of twins who spent time in the NICU, Vehr shares, “I really cherish the time I was able to spend at home nurturing my babies so they could thrive in the way that all children deserve.”

Providing parents with paid time off from work to care for their young children helps families begin their journey on a strong foundation of caring, consistent relationships. Infants experience rapid rates of brain development fueled by nurturing and consistent relationship with caregiving adults, and these earliest interactions have a significant, long-lasting impact on executive functioning, early communication, and problem-solving skills.

Bridget Byville, vice president of Development, and another recent mother at Start Early recalls how her parental leave helped get her son to a place where he was healthy and thriving. “My parental leave helped us get into the cadence of being a family and creating those social emotional connections that we needed. It was especially beneficial for creating a bond with this tiny human — who is very fragile — and it gave me time to focus on my health and well-being post labor,” she shares.

Indeed, research has found that paid family leave leads to a wealth of benefits related to child development and child and caregiver health. One recent study found that paid leave was linked to better language, cognitive and social emotional outcomes in toddlers regardless of socioeconomic status and fewer infant behavior problems. Research also suggests that parental leave — especially paid leave — can support children’s health during this critical window, including positively affecting breastfeeding rates and duration, reducing the risk of infant mortality, and increasing the likelihood of infants receiving well-baby care and vaccinations.

The benefits that paid leave produces for young children and their families have not only compelled Start Early to advocate for policies that increase access to paid leave but has compelled our organization to adopt our own paid leave policies, including providing up to 6 months of paid maternity, paternity or adoption leave for employees.

The U.S. is one of only eight countries that does not offer paid leave, forcing parents to cobble together paid personal time, sick leave and short-term disability, if available or feasible. As a result, the average maternity leave in the U.S. is about 10 weeks.

Trivia!

As both the Senate and House of Representatives have spent the bulk of the last two weeks “on” the Floor, this has been a common sight in both chambers. Masked Rostrum staff, surrounded by plexiglass, keeping the process moving. And, I should add, working incredibly long hours, including weekends.

In the State Senate, the Lt. Governor serves as President and presides over nearly every Senate Floor activity. In the House, multiple people serve in that presiding role. Much of the House Floor activity is led by the Speaker Pro Tempore (currently Representative Tina Orwall) and the Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore (currently Representative John Lovick). Speaker Laurie Jinkins will also preside on occasion, particularly when monumental bills are under consideration.

Since this is our new Lt. Governor Denny Heck’s first year in the role of Senate President, this week’s trivia is focused on tidbits about Lt. Governor Heck. To learn more beyond the bland web articles, I reached out to the Lt. Governor’s longtime friend and my colleague, Paul Berendt.

1. What was Lt. Governor Heck’s job immediately prior to his November election as Lt. Governor?
2. Lt. Governor Heck is an avid fan of what basketball team?

Highlights of the Week

American Rescue Plan Act is Now Law. Following an all-nighter by the U.S. Senate on Friday night/Saturday morning and a confirmation vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law on Thursday, March 11th.

There is a lot of press around the many positive investments for our nation’s families, including the Child Tax Credit as well as substantial child care, Head Start, and home visiting investments. The per state funding allocations are still being finalized and we are all anxiously awaiting federal guidance on spending parameters.  In the meantime, I wanted to share this resource developed by the national First Five Years Fund that contains details on the specific investments targeted to families. As Washington state budget writers put the finishing touches on their proposals, we will be carefully watching how they approach this significant infusion of federal dollars for families and other critical public investments.

Fair Start Act Bills Advance. Both the Senate (E2SSB 5237) and the House (E2SHB 1213) versions of the Fair Start for Kids Act passed out of their respective chambers before the March 9th cutoff. Start Early Washington has updated its resource documents detailing a summary of the most recent amendments and a side-by-side chart of the current versions of both bills. E2SSB 5237 has been scheduled to be heard in the House Children, Youth and Families Committee on Thursday, March 18th. E2SHB 1213 has not been scheduled for a public hearing as of this writing.

This is an exciting time for Washington families as the state is poised to adopt a roadmap for broadly expanding its quality early learning infrastructure, backed by significant new investments. With amendments adopted on Saturday, the Senate signaled its priorities for the Fair Start Act by advancing the timeline for implementation of increased eligibility and reimbursement, leveraging a portion of child care funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Specifically, the Senate amendments increase:

• Income eligibility for families for Working Connections Child Care beginning July 1, 2021 from 200% of Federal Poverty Level to 60% of State Median Income. This represents an increase in income eligibility for a family of three from $43,920 to $51,804.
• The Working Connections Child Care reimbursement rate to 85th percentile as of July 1, 2021.
• The ECEAP reimbursement rate by 10% beginning in the 2021-22 school year.

The House version has not yet been amended to reflect how the federal child care and other funding will advance the Fair Start for Kids Act goals. With both bills still moving, we can expect the Senate and House to decide on one of the bills as the vehicle to move forward and negotiate differences between the two policy and budget approaches.

Capital Gains Tax Passes Senate. On Saturday, the State Senate passed Capital Gains for the first time on a 25-24 vote. ESSB 5096 would impose a 7 percent capital gains tax effective January 1, 2022.

The bill contains intent language that the first $350 million generated by the tax would go into the Education Legacy Trust Account with a focus on early learning and child care; the next $100 million to the state General Fund; and the balance of funds collected would go into a newly created Taxpayer Fairness Account.  This Taxpayer Fairness Account is intended to fund the Working Families Tax Exemption referenced above.  This Seattle Times article provides a summary of the debate and the bill’s details.  ESSB 5096 will receive a public hearing in the House Finance Committee on Monday, March 15^th.

Floor Action Concluded.  After what felt like weeks of staring at screens as the House and Senate spent hours alternating between caucus meetings, debates and votes, the initial round of floor activity concluded on Tuesday, March 9^th.  For lobbyists, monitoring Floor activity in a virtual environment required constant refreshing of TVW and texting colleagues, “are they back?”

Given that I reported on the 5:00 bill last week, I thought I would share how our legislature approached it this year. The House actually adjourned at 3:46 p.m., far before the 5:00 deadline. Their final bill before cutoff was ESHB 1297, the Working Families Tax Exemption. This bill passed 94-2 and it looks like there will finally be funding for this policy that has been on the books but unfunded for more than 10 years.

The Senate took the unusual step of scheduling a House bill for its 5:00 bill.  This is unusual because a House bill is not subject to cutoff deadlines at this stage. The House bill covered was SHB 1088 relating to potential impeachment disclosures. This bill passed 46-3 and is one of the policy reform proposals under review this year. Senate leadership stated they took this unusual step to demonstrate their commitment to advancing law enforcement reform this year.

Bill Roundup

Early Learning Facilities Bill Moves to the Senate. On Monday, the House approved ESHB 1370 on a 90-7 vote, making improvements to the existing Early Learning Facilities program. Prior to the vote, the House approved an amendment to name the facilities funds after former Representative Ruth Kagi. On a day with sometimes controversial items, this provided an opportunity for members on both sides of the aisle to celebrate Representative Kagi’s legacy. Related to my blurb above about presiding officers, Speaker Jinkins presided over consideration of ESHB 1370 and took a point of personal privilege following the bill’s passage to honor her former seatmate, Representative Kagi. ESHB 1370 is now in the Senate, where it was referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

DCYF Licensing Bill Receives Public Hearing.  On Thursday, the House Children, Youth and Families held a public hearing on SSB 5151, DCYF’s licensing bill.  The bill contains a number of licensing provisions within the Department.  In terms of early learning, the bill waives child care licensing fees until June 30, 2023 and makes the outdoor preschool pilot program permanent.  It is scheduled to receive a vote in the committee on March 17^th.

On Deck Next Week

Revenue Forecast. Scheduled appropriately on St. Patrick’s Day, the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will receive an updated revenue report. This report will help inform budget writers in their efforts to finalize their budget proposals. At a media availability this week, House Majority Leader Representative Pat Sullivan noted that the budget proposals may be released a little later this year to give budget writers time to analyze the various aspects of the American Rescue Plan Act.

Trivia Answers

1. Prior to his November election, Lt. Governor Heck was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 10th District (Olympia).
2. Lt. Governor Heck is a fervent Gonzaga Bulldog basketball fan. When he used to appear on cable news shows during his time in Congress, he often had a Gonzaga hat or other Zags item displayed prominently in the background.

Lt. Governor Heck served five terms in the Washington State House of Representatives. He was first elected at the ripe age of 24 in 1976, and he eventually rose to the position of House Majority Leader. Lt. Governor Heck also served as Chief of Staff to former Governor Booth Gardner and helped found TVW. This experience with the Washington State Legislature allowed him to jump right into presiding over marathon Senate floor sessions (although he did slip more than once and refer to the body as the House – understandable!).

The son of a telephone operator and a teamster, our Lt. Governor was one of the first graduates of Evergreen State College. He has called Olympia home for forty years, so it is really not a surprise he would come back to the State Capitol where he started his career. According to Paul, the Lt. Governor is an “extraordinary” cribbage and pinochle player and is a part of an Olympia based book club that has met for a number of years.

I wonder if his book club read Heck’s own 2002 novel, “The Enemy You Know” about Jess Stevens who, according to Amazon, “retires abruptly at the peak of his career to build a ‘dream’ home on the idyllic shores of Loon Lake, 35 miles north of Spokane, Washington.”

Tomorrow, President Joe Biden is expected to sign the American Rescue Plan, a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package to help families across the country struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation includes investments in child care, health care, housing assistance, special education, mental health services, stable access to food and other supports for families that will go a long way to alleviating many of the challenges the pandemic has brought to families across the country -particularly those who live in communities that have been historically under resourced and overburdened.

It provides $39 billion in child care funding, includes immediate supports for child care providers who have been hit hard by the pandemic economically, allows states to ensure essential workers can access child care with little- to no-cost to them — regardless of income — and includes funding for the important work of rebuilding and strengthening state child care systems.

The legislation also includes significant investments for other critical parts of the prenatal-five system, including $200 million to support preschoolers with disabilities and $250 million for infants and toddlers under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), $1B for Head Start programs, and $150 million for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program.

In response, Kristin Bernhard, senior vice president of Policy and Advocacy at Start Early issued the following statement:

“Start Early applauds Congress for passing one the most significant investments in young children in decades, the American Rescue Plan. There has never been a more critical time to support children, families and the early childhood workforce.

“The last year has illuminated how the ongoing impact of historical and systemic racism continues to magnify the stressors so many of our youngest children and their families face, such as homelessness, food insecurity, and financial instability.

“While our early childhood education system was broken well before the pandemic began, the pandemic has left child care in America on the verge of collapse and in a state of crisis never seen before.

“Millions of families are struggling to provide the high-quality care needed for their children’s well-being and their ability to work. Doulas, home visitors, preschool teachers, in-home providers and other early childhood professionals have been forced to put their lives on the line or shutter their doors, all while being compensated at levels that don’t reflect their expertise or the importance and complexity of the work they do.

“Our nation has underfunded this crucial support for families for decades. This funding has the potential to improve access to quality early learning and care for all families.

“Perhaps most importantly, the American Rescue Plan creates an opportunity to build towards a bright and just future for all children. Now our efforts must focus on supporting states to effectively use the funds to repair and redesign early childhood systems and supports to be more equitable, to increase access for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), to reach more children with disabilities and their families, and to target funding to build capacity of currently under-resourced communities.”