WPAS E-Mail Updates – More Information, More Often

 WPAS Email Updates alerted people to the promise of SB 5522 – a bill that would create an independent Mental Health Ombuds program.  Although the bill itself didn’t pass, a paragraph was inserted into the budget that will set the wheels in motion to create this program.  Legislators heard the outcry from consumers and advocates that this program is needed. 

Housing advocates made their voices heard this session with the passage of HB 2060 which creates a new source of money for low-income housing – including housing for people with disabilities.  Calls and emails from citizens helped persuade legislators that this was good public policy.

A trio of bills that could have hurt people with disabilities were defeated by public response. 

	WPAS Email Updates sounded the alarm about HB 1640 – a bill that provided incentives to maintain sheltered workshops – and the bill failed.
	HB 2430 would have required health insurers to offer healthcare plans to employers that contained no mental health coverage.  Public reaction against the plan played a part in this bill’s downfall.
	A bill that would have stripped training requirements for workers in Adult Family Homes was amended so that workers in these facilities will continue to receive training.  WPAS Email Updates was among the early warning sirens about this potentially harmful bill.