(The Center Square) – The House Early Learning & Human Services Committee on Tuesday passed legislation out of executive session that mandates the closure of Yakima Valley School and Rainier School, two residential habilitation centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Introduced on March 19, Substitute House Bill 1472 would close both schools by June 30, 2027, with a planned transition process.
As reported by The Center Square, Democrats propose shutting down the schools and moving residents into community-based settings. Respite and crisis care would continue in Yakima Valley.
Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Eatonville, whose district neighbors Rainier School in Buckley, told The Center Square he vehemently opposes closing the facilities.
“I have not seen any sort of a plan that actually addresses the issue. I only hear talking points of having places in the community where people could go. I haven’t seen a single example of a viable solution, so I have grave concerns that if people are discharged and we just close this school, people will die,” he said. “These people are depending on us, and we’re going to send the message as a state that says we don’t care, figure it out.”
During executive session, Rep. Jamila Taylor, D-Federal Way, cited the 1999 Olmstead case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that unjustified segregation of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and requires states to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.
“I ask your support for this closure to ensure our state’s commitment to the most vulnerable in our population is able to stay in community and have the services and supports they need even in crisis in their county of origin,” she said.
Taylor said she is convinced there is enough support in the community to accommodate the displaced residents.
“This is not easy for any of us: the families, the staff, the individuals who need help, and those who want to leave,” she continued. “We also know there is capacity at other facilities, like Lakeland and Fircrest and in adult family and supportive living and other skilled nursing facilities, so there is hope.”
Rep. Josh Penner, R-Orting urged a “no” vote.
“I have a hunch that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of individuals like our family members, like my family members, who would be better served by a community opportunity,” he said.
Like other committee members who spoke in opposition to the bill, Penner said closing the schools without a plan for where residents will be moved is irresponsible and dangerous.
“I think you can do two things: you can support SOLAs [State Operated Living Alternatives] and community-based living, and you can support something like the RHCs for a time,” he explained. “What I think can’t be true is you can’t support the people living in RHCs and shut them down in two years without a plan. Doing this without a plan is a recipe for disaster.”
Penner said he talked with employees at both schools who may criticize the facility and feel there’s room for improvement. Those employees told him they felt it would be worse to shut the doors without a plan for the residents.
“To do this without a plan and just say in two years we’re going to shut it down and assume a plan is going to come out of thin air, and then to have no oversight because we didn’t decide what the elements of that plan were going to be from a legislative capacity, that’s our job Mr. Chair,” Penner pleaded.
Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, also urged a ‘no’ vote on the bill.
“This is hard stuff,” he said. “I think until you’ve had somebody that is close to you or a family member that has been in one of these facilities, you sometimes don’t get to grasp, why the facility is there. It’s also the families it affects, meaning the ones who are not there.”
Dent said his own family experience of having someone in a trusted facility is a great comfort.
“We don’t have a plan, and if we had a plan, I could do this in a heartbeat,” he added.
The bill passed out of the committee on a party-line 6-5 vote, with no Republicans supporting it.
