OLYMPIA - The majority of the bills which comprise the Senate Democrats' reform agenda have been approved by the Washington State Senate ahead of the Feb. 14 floor cutoff deadline. A number of additional reform bills are still being considered by the Senate Ways & Means Committee as bills necessary to implement the budget.

The bills are projected to save at least $43 million in the 2011-13 biennial budget, while saving at least a quarter of a billion dollars over the next five years.

“We began in December with a pledge to scour our state government for savings, to preserve efficient practices and to eliminate waste and abuse,” said Sen. Nick Harper, D-Everett. “Today, a majority of the bills which were dedicated to that effort have passed the Senate with bipartisan support.”

The reform agenda proposed by Harper and Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, was crafted with the goal of reshaping the way Washington funds and delivers services. By reducing spending in current and future budgets while still fulfilling responsibilities to the citizens of Washington, the agenda supports short-term investments in areas which have the potential to produce hundreds of millions of dollars in savings.

“To make cuts that save money now but end up costing the state more in the long run is inefficient and wasteful,” Hargrove said. “Reforms are responsible, structural changes that deliver services to the public for less money. These bills fulfill a good portion of our goal of fundamentally changing the way our state does business.”

Bills in the reform agenda (includes bills approved by the Senate and bills necessary to implement the budget):

ESSB 5969 – Accelerating the process for military spouses to receive professional licenses after moving to Washington. (Kilmer)

ESSB 5978 – Establishes a state Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act that creates civil liability for false or fraudulent claims against the state Medicaid program. (Pflug)

ESSB 6204 – Adopts rules creating a structured violation process including presumptive sanctions, aggravating and mitigating factors, and definitions for low-level violations and high-level violations. (Hargrove)

ESSB 6345 – Creating a commission which will submit an initial report that includes recommendations for alignment of revenue and expenditures over the next six-year period. (Kastama)

SSB 6359 – Modifying provisions related to the Office of Regulatory Assistance which will recommend best permitting practices, methods for improving early communication with state agencies, and effective ways to assess and communicate project timelines and costs. (Eide)

SSB 6002 – Making adjustments to the school construction assistance formula, excluding Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) students residing outside of a school district from the School Construction Assistance formula for determining state funding assistance. (Kilmer)

SB 5401 – Authorizing use of sales and use tax proceeds for certain public facilities in innovation partnership zones for economic development purposes (Chase)

SB 5404 – Authorizing community economic revitalization board funding to benefit innovation partnership zones (Chase)

SSB 6226 – Extending the authorization periods for subsidized child care (Frockt)

SSB 5977 – Making the discover pass transferable between two vehicles (Ranker)

ESSB 6227 – Establishing a Medicaid fraud hotline for reports of suspected fraud (Conway)

ESSB 6170 – Establishing the working waterfront redevelopment jobs act, creating a permit review and approval process for qualifying redevelopment and restoration projects located on or adjacent to certain marine shorelines. (Ranker)

SSB 6493 – Addressing sexually violent predator civil commitment cases moving responsibility to the Office of Public Defense (Regala)

ESSB 6078 – Implementing efficiencies in the management of the state's natural resources (Ranker)

SSB 6142 – Changing agency regulatory practices, adding requirements to regulatory agencies regarding technical assistance visits and first-time small business violations. (Kilmer)

2SSB 6140 – Concerning local economic development financing (Kilmer)

2SSB 6211 – Accelerating cleanup of hazardous waste sites to return those sites to productivity (Ranker)

2SSB 6492 – Improving timeliness, efficiency, and accountability of forensic resource utilization associated with competency to stand trial (Hargrove)

SSB 5895 - Regarding certificated employee evaluations and creating a four-tier evaluation process (Murray)

ESSB 5575 - Recognizing certain biomass energy facilities as an eligible renewable resources and maintaining rural jobs (Hatfield)

ESSB 6555 - Providing for family assessments in cases involving child abuse or neglect (Hargrove)

SB 6442 - Establishing a consolidating purchasing system for public school employees involving health insurance (Hobbs)

SB 6406 - Modifying programs that provide for the protection of the state's natural resources (Hargrove)

Reform bills in which House bills are the vehicle

HB 2585/SB 6401 - Creating efficiencies for institutions of higher education (Tom)

HB 2452/SB 6198 - Centralizing the authority and responsibility for the development, process, and oversight of state procurement of goods and services (Pridemore)

HB 2536/SB 6205 – Using proven practices in determining services to children and juveniles (Hargrove)

HB 2253/SB 6130 - Modernizing the functionality of the state environmental policy act, calling on the Department of Ecology to make changes to permitting process (Rolfes)

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For more information: Aaron Wasser, 360-786-7333 or Ian Cope, 360-786-7535

For interviews: Sen. Jim Hargrove, 360-786-7646 and Sen. Nick Harper, 360-786-7674