Anxiety is swirling among several advocacy groups as the state budget is debated and cuts are on the line.
Rome Johnson says therapy services from Washington's Early Support for Infants & Toddlers program were essential in helping his daughter Cali Joy. and cuts are on the line. It is millions of dollars for an early education program — that one dad tells me changed his family's life.
“It’s something that I don't know if our family would be the same if we didn't have those,” Rome Johnson said.Johnson has two kids. One of them is 6-year-old Cali Joy, who, he said, was born with a rare condition, leading to 6.5 months in the NICU and then years of therapy. “Occupational therapy, physical therapy, feeding therapy, and speech therapy,” he said. “It was truly life-changing.”“Birth to three are critical time period where 85% of the brain growth occurs, so for us to be able to provide those services, again, is a critical pathway in their developmental milestone,” CEO of Kindering Michael Stewart said.Stewart said right now they are concerned about state budget cuts, as a rewrite of the funding formula has been on the table. He said the rewrite would cut statewide funding by 17%, or $30 million. For Kinderling alone, it would be a $2.4 million budget cut, and that 400 fewer babies could participate in the program.“And we don't know where those kids would go,” Stewart said. "If the cuts were to go through, it would be devastating. It would cause irreparable harm to children born with disabilities."As of the original publishing of this story, the state budget proposals in the House and Senate do not make those cuts. "That doesn't mean we're going to take our foot off the pedal,” Stewart said. “We know that there are lots of negotiations still taking place." And Johnson said knowing how much the services helped his daughter is enough to make him want to fight for others. “Just watching the joy that my daughter has and the fire she has, the fight she has, I don't know if she would've had that without these services,” Johnson said. "There's so much uncertainty, and we need to fight the good fight, and we need to make sure that people know about this. We need to make sure that people care about this, and we need to protect our babies."The state budget is due in just over two weeks on March 12. Still, after lawmakers pass it, the governor does have the ability to line-item veto any provision.Court filings reveal a history of safety concerns at a Pierce County home where five people were killed on Tuesday.Five people are dead, including the suspect, after a protection order violation in Gig Harbor escalated to a stabbing in the street and gunfire.King County deputies are investigating a homicide after responding to a welfare check in Auburn on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.Passengers arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport described being caught in the middle of gunfire and burning vehicles.As President Donald Trump prepares to address Congress Tuesday night, several Democratic lawmakers from Washington state say they will skip the speech.
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