'Safe' hospital staffing and limiting emergency powers: 2022 legislative check-in

Washington lawmakers are working fast this session on a number of issues, including the state’s plan to fund long-term care and the executive branch's emergency powers.

Olympia Correspondent Austin Jenkins spoke with KUOW Morning Edition Host Angela King about early developments at the Capitol.

One thing is clear: Lawmakers seem ready to rise to the challenge Governor Jay Inslee laid out at the start of session: to be "big" and "bold." But they don't necessarily agree on what that means.

Even where there is broad consensus that something should be done, such as ensuring hospitals are appropriately staffed, questions remain.

And while this will be a short session, there's plenty of time for any number of surprising twists.

Who cares? WA Cares

Lawmakers' first big move this session came after widespread criticism and voter pushback united the parties to delay the state's planned long-term care insurance program, WA Cares.

The Washington state House on Wednesday voted to delay the collection of the new payroll tax that would fund the first-of-its-kind program.

Lawmakers are also considering a bill to allow certain individuals who wouldn’t benefit from the program to opt out of paying the premium.

Democrats still see WA Cares as the best options to provide long-term care coverage to Washingtonians.

Long-term care is already expensive in Washington.

According to a 2020 survey by policy provider and industry analyst Genworth, in-home care in Washington state costs an average of $72,000 per year. An assisted living facility here runs about $69,000 and a room in a nursing home averages about $123,000 per year. WA Cares is not intended to cover the full cost of care but rather to supplement recipients' personal savings, assets, and other programs, like Medicaid.

It’s estimated that seven in 10 Washingtonians will need some amount of long-term care in their lifetimes.

But while Democrats are standing by this idea, they've widely acknowledged areas in the 2019 law that could be improved. For example, someone who pays into the program, as it currently stands, will not benefit from it if they retire in a state other than Washington.

Minority Republicans say the program is fatally flawed and insolvent in the long term. More than 470,000 Washingtonians — representing more than a third of the state’s payroll — have already requested to opt out of the program after purchasing private long-term care insurance plans, according to figures provided by the Employment Security Department and the state actuary.

State Representative Drew Stokesbary isn't satisfied with the fixes currently under consideration. The Auburn Republican has his own solution in mind.

"I wish that there was an ability for us to vote on a delay longer than 18 months, a permanent delay," he said. "I wish there was an ability for us to engage in robust debate about alternatives.”

Sometimes dreams do come true.

KUOW's Austin Jenkins expects WA Cares will still be up for debate come 2023. But a full repeal, which would need Democrats' support, is highly unlikely at this point.

When does an emergency cease to be emergent?

Sometimes the most interesting legislative battles aren't fought along party lines.

Inslee has irked his fellow Democrats from time to time, and now, at least one is siding with Republicans in an effort to reform the executive's emergency powers.

Senate Democratic Majority Whip Emily Randall has introduced a bill, essentially to give legislators a chance to weigh in when, say, a global pandemic leads to an extended state of emergency.

It's been nearly 700 days since Inslee declared an emergency as Covid-19 spread around the world. He made that declaration on February 29, 2020 — the same day the state recorded its first death from the novel coronavirus.

In issuing his proclamation, Inslee said the declaration would allow the state to respond “quickly and effectively” to the new virus.

But in a statement about her reform bill, Randall argues the current system has given one person the power to decide what that means.

"And if the Legislature isn’t in session during a declared emergency, there is no opportunity for legislators to make sure the concerns and priorities of our communities are a part of the decision-making process," she said. "We will recover better together, more equitably and more quickly, when a body of duly elected legislators acting in direct service of our communities can be a part of that recovery.”

Not surprisingly, the governor's emergency powers have been a source of frustration for minority Republicans.

It's not entirely surprising to see Randall get involved, though. Jenkins explains she's a highly vulnerable Democrat up for reelection in a district where she faces viable Republican challengers.

What is perhaps surprising is that her bill is getting a hearing, which means others in her party are at least willing to entertain and debate the idea.

Is there such a thing as an unemployed mandate?

Lawmakers are also considering a proposal to set safe staffing standards for nurses. This comes at a time when our hospitals are once again overwhelmed; the omicron surge officially pushed Washington's hospitals to their highest weekly average since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, there are fewer health care workers to cover everyone in need, because many are themselves sick with Covid.

Jane Hopkins is a registered nurse and the executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. She recently spoke with KUOW All Things Considered host Kim Malcolm and said this problem existed long before Covid. She explained why nurses want a standard set.

“[Most] nurses have five patients, but with the crisis and the way things are right now, they’re asking people to take on even more than that, more than five," she said. "It’s really important that we do have this safe-staffing standard, because adding more patients to the nurses’ workload is literally hurting patients every single day.”

Here's the problem as Jenkins describes it: setting a standard will not guarantee hospitals actually have the staff to meet it.

How can such standards be guaranteed when Covid is still a reality? It's so bad, Inslee is deploying the National Guard to support hospital staff.

"This proposal addresses the concerns of workers," Jenkins explained. "But it clearly doesn't solve that bigger issue of the lack of adequate pipeline for training up the next generation of health care workers and retaining people in this hard profession."

Cash for gold, tired; 'cash for clunkers,' wired

As if that's not enough to keep lawmakers busy, they're also considering a proposal that aims to do away with loud, gas-powered lawn equipment.

The "Cash for Clunkers" bill would offer Washingtonians a rebate to purchase battery-powered equipment if they hand over gas-powered lawn mowers, blowers, and other such machines.

Jenkins, though neutral on the bill, put it this way: he hasn't been able to convince his spouse to spend $600 on the battery-powered mower he's had his eye on.

But $400 and a chance to ditch their gas-powered clunker — he and lawmakers might have themselves a deal.