Spokane adds more scattered-site shelters
Two organizations are adding to Spokane’s shelter inventory as the city develops a cadre of smaller, more specialized places for people without homes.
Family Promise of Spokane plans to add capacity at two of its east Spokane facilities that serve families.
Small, scattered-site shelters are new to Spokane and the preferred approach of the Brown Administration.
Family Promise Executive Director Joe Ader said his agency has used that model for several years.
"It’s less traumatic on children. Them having to walk into a big shelter with less people, it’s less traumatic," Ader said. "It’s also safer particularly for kids and babies to be in a house, in a home, in a neighborhood that feels more normal."
Compassionate Addiction Treatment said it will open a new space just east of the downtown core.
"We’re actually situated on a property that affords us a lot of privacy and space to focus on recovery without the intrusion of the outside world," CAT Executive Director Hallie Burchinal said.
Mayor Lisa Brown predicted the shelter expansions could add up to 155 beds.
Though she said it’s good news, recent developments at the federal level like an attempted freeze on loan and grant programs could change the outlook.
"My team is currently analyzing the potential effects of the Trump Administration policies, but they could be really a very big step backward for our community," Brown said.
According to Brown, the city is paying the two organizations using state money allocated to smaller, scattered-site shelters.
Hospital finances are improving in WA post-COVID but haven't recovered
Washington’s hospitals are in slightly better financial shape but still not in a strong position.
That’s according to a new report from the Washington State Hospital Association.
The agency’s CEO, Cassie Sauer, said hospitals are emerging from the stresses placed on them by the COVID-19 pandemic.
They’ve been cutting costs, Sauer said. But they were also helped by an increase in Medicaid reimbursements authorized by the state legislature.
Susan Stacey, the CEO for Providence in the Inland Northwest, says the five hospitals she oversees lost $65 million during the first nine months of 2024. That’s better than in 2023, she said, but still not good.
"As of the third quarter of 2024, Providence as a system experienced a negative three percent operating margin," Stacey said. "We’re currently using our reserves to cover these losses. But that too is not sustainable."
She said the state has avoided hospital closures but says many have been asking questions about what they’d need to do in case they decide to close their doors.
WA legislature considers a tax to fund local journalism
A State Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would tax tech companies to generate funds for journalism jobs.
The testimony painted a stark picture of the news industry in Washington.
Representatives from publications across the state described the dwindling number of reporters in their newsrooms and declines in revenue from advertising.
They all spoke in favor of a proposed tax on large tech companies in the state to pull in an estimated $20 million dollars annually. Media organizations would compete for grants to support journalism jobs in underserved areas.
Ben Campbell, the co-owner and publisher of the Columbian in Vancouver, said his newsroom is roughly half the size it was 20 years ago.
"The decline in our staffing levels is not a reflection of our commitment. It's the reality that small news organizations are facing," he said. "It's due to decreasing ad revenue, increasing costs and a rapidly changing media landscape."
“We have lost $2 million dollars in those markets over the past five years," Alan Fisco, the president and CFO of the Seattle Times Company. "We have looked for selling, there’s no buyers. And the buyers who are out there just gut their newsrooms even more.”
The Seattle Times Company also owns newspapers in smaller markets, including the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.
Opponents of the bill raised concerns over the account that would collect the funds for the program. They said the Workforce Education Investment Account is meant for higher education programs, not for journalism jobs.
WA GOP decries new debate rules in state House
Republican lawmakers in Olympia are not happy with new rules enacted by the majority Democrats.
The rules could limit debate time on new bills that reach the House floor.
By a 54 to 33 vote Friday, the body lowered the threshold to end debate from two thirds to a simple majority.
During a press briefing Tuesday, House Republican Leader Drew Stokesbary said the new rule looks like an attempt to prevent a filibuster.
But, he said, in reality, stalling has never been an option in the House.
“Any member can only speak for three minutes in the days before cutoff, and the remarks have to be confined to the bill or amendment at hand," Stokesbary said. "You can't stand up there and hold the floor for hours on end.
"You can't have a minority of members block the bill from coming to the floor or block the bill from passing. You can't read the phone book or Charles Dickens or Dr. Seuss."
Stokesbary said if House leaders are worried there isn’t enough time to hear from all members testifying on a bill for their three-minute allotment, they should schedule floor debate earlier.
House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon said the same rule is already in place in the Senate and says it’s hasn’t prevented any thorough debate on a bill.
SPS to wait on state law, courts for trans athlete policies
Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Adam Swinyard said SPS is going to stay the course for now when it comes to transgender students in school athletics.
"State law is pretty clear in terms of the access and protections afforded to our students, and we're going to continue to abide by those," Swinyard told SPR News.
The Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association Monday finalized language for a potential rule change that would ban trans girls from competing with students who were assigned female at birth.
The push for a ban has come from more than a dozen school districts — including Colville, Mead and Central Valley.
Currently, Washington state law prevents denial or exclusion from recreational and athletic activities on the basis of sex, gender expression, or gender identity.
But many states have been creating different rules on the subject. And Swinyard said the matter may end up out of WIAA’s hands.
"I would not be surprised if this topic is ultimately decided at the Supreme Court through some litigation in some state in the country," he said.
WIAA will vote on the potential rule change in April.
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Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Freddy Monares, Steve Jackson, and Owen Henderson.