Building a state budget is akin to constructing the Taj Mahal Lego set. There are about 6,000 different pieces that must be fit together perfectly for the final product to stand on its own.
That difficulty is represented by the fact that Washington lawmakers have made a habit of turning in their creation after the deadline, a situation with which we can empathize. Yet sometimes legislators must be taken to task for grabbing pieces willy-nilly from another set in order to complete their work. Such is the case with a supplemental budget that was finalized Tuesday — 20 days into a special session before lawmakers called it quits for this year and patted themselves on the back.
Among the items in the $191 million budget, which will be added to the $38.4 billion two-year spending plan approved in 2015, is one that penalizes Clark County for its foresight and diligence regarding the creation of a regional mental health network. The county has moved swiftly to fully integrate mental health, chemical dependency, and physical health assistance for Medicaid patients. In so doing, it freed up money that had been set aside in reserve.
One would think that deft planning, preparation, and management would earn plaudits from lawmakers in Olympia. Instead, legislators saw it as an opportunity to seize those reserves — about $25 million — and redirect them toward other mental health programs throughout the state.
“I’m quite aware that in budget negotiations, you often do not get everything you want,” said Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, explaining his vote in opposition to the supplemental budget. “In my view, mental health care funding for Clark County and the surrounding area is not a want; it is a high priority for the health and safety of our communities. … In the final deal, these funds were taken from our region and delivered elsewhere.”
No, you do not get everything you want. And $25 million does not represent the most significant item in a budget of more than $38 billion. But the issue of the mental health money is problematic. Rather than being rewarded for instituting a new system and building up reserves, Clark County has been targeted. As Vanessa Gaston of the Southwest Washington Behavioral Health network said, “We have to ask ourselves, ‘What message is the state giving us?’ ”
The message to mental health officials and other state services is this: “If you implement a money-saving plan and build up reserves, we will punish you for it. You would be better off spending all of your funding.” That is an inappropriate message, and it is one that in the end victimizes taxpayers. When government agencies employ that ethos, an impenetrable bureaucracy is created.
Overall, the Legislature took bold strides in addressing the state’s lack of attention to mental health. Funding was approved for the addition of 51 nurses at Western State Hospital near Tacoma, where patient care and staff safety have been troublesome issues, and money was added to help attract and retain doctors. Funding also was earmarked to pay for housing and support teams related to mental health care.
In addition, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate managed to agree on a $191 million supplemental budget that addressed several emergency items without raising general taxes. But in the process, they employed a questionable strategy for piecing together that budget.
