Key portions of the Senate Democrats reform package were voted out of their respective committees last week, moving closer to their ultimate goal: improving the way the Washington state government funds its operations.

While many of the bills will move to the Senate Rules Committee for consideration, the Senate Ways & Means Committee will hear eight of the bills today. Those bills make up nearly a quarter of the 41 bills to pass before the committee this (Monday) afternoon.

The bills which passed out of committee include measures from the Energy and Natural Resources & Marine Waters Committee to streamline river and forest project streamlining, from the Health and Long-Term Care Committee to consolidate K-12 employee health insurance programs and to strengthen the mechanisms to identify fraud and abuse in the Medicaid system.

The reform bills include:

SSB 6170 - Establishing the working waterfront redevelopment jobs act (Energy and Natural Resources & Water, Ranker)

SB 6442 - Establishing a consolidating purchasing system for public school employees (Health & Long-Term Care, Hobbs)

SSB 6130 - Modernizing the functionality of the state environmental policy act (Environment, Rolfes)

SSB 6401 - Creating efficiencies for institutions of higher education (Higher Education and Workforce Development, Tom)

SSB 5978 - Concerning Medicaid fraud (Ways & Means, Pflug)

SSB 6140 - Concerning local economic development financing (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Kilmer)

SSB 6142 - Changing agency regulatory practices (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Kilmer)

SSB 6198 - Centralizing the authority and responsibility for the development, process, and oversight of state procurement of goods and services (Government Operations and Tribal Relations & Elections, Pridemore)

SSB 6359 - Modifying provisions related to the office of regulatory assistance (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Eide)

SHB 2289 - Establishing a flexible approach to child protective services (Early Learning & Human Services, Kagi)

SHB 2536 - Concerning the use of evidence-based practices for the delivery of services to children and juveniles (Early Learning & Human Services, Dickerson)

SSB 6002 - Making adjustments to the school construction assistance formula (Ways & Means, Kilmer)

SSB 6227 - Establishing a Medicaid fraud hotline (Health & Long-Term Care, Conway)

SB 5401 - Authorizing use of sales and use tax proceeds for certain public facilities in innovation partnership zones for economic development purposes (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Chase)

SB 5404 - Authorizing community economic revitalization board funding to benefit innovation partnership zones (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Chase)

SSB 5977 - Making the discover pass transferable between two vehicles (approved by the Senate 44-0, Ranker)

SSB 6492 - Improving timeliness, efficiency, and accountability of forensic resource utilization associated with competency to stand trial (Human Services & Corrections, Hargrove)

SB 6493 - Addressing sexually violent predator civil commitment cases (Human Services & Corrections, Regala)

SSB 6078 - Implementing efficiencies in the management of the state's natural resources (Energy and Natural Resources & Marine Waters, Ranker)

SB 6406 - Modifying programs that provide for the protection of the state's natural resources (Energy and Natural Resources & Marine Waters, Hargrove)

SB 6204 - Modifying community supervision provisions (Human Services & Corrections, Hargrove)

SB 6211 - Accelerating cleanup of hazardous waste sites (Senate Committee on Environment, Ranker)

SB 6226 - Concerning authorization periods for subsidized child care (Human Services & Corrections, Frockt)

SB 6345 - Creating a commission to restructure state government (Economic Development and Trade & Innovation, Kastama)

ESSB 5969 - Concerning the establishment of procedures for the professional licensing of military spouses after relocation to Washington (signed by the governor following special session, Kilmer)

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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