By Bill Lucia | Editor
The secretary of state’s office yesterday certified the initiative that aims to repeal Washington’s 9.9% tax on household wage income over $1 million a year, confirming the measure will appear on the fall ballot. “Today’s verification proves that Washingtonians will have their voice heard this November,” said Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, the political committee that ran the signature-gathering effort to get the measure qualified.
Also in today’s edition…
Farmworker wage complaints caught in a state agency backlog.
Concerns over private equity partnering with nonprofit healthcare providers.
And, more teens face delays seeking treatment for marijuana use.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
A volunteer for Let’s Go Washington unloads boxes of petitions for Initiative 645 turned in at the secretary of state’s office on July 2. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard)
By Jerry Cornfield
Let’s Go Washington submitted 509,365 signatures for Initiative 645. State election officials sampled 3%, or 15,281, and found 12,936 were valid registered voters, a validity rate of more than 80%. A “yes” vote on the initiative will repeal the tax, but leave in place various tax breaks built into the law. It will also prohibit local governments from imposing any income tax. A “no” vote will uphold the entire tax law.
By Aspen Ford
More than half of farmworker wage complaints Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries received last year went unresolved past a 60-day statutory limit, according to a new report. The preliminary findings from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee indicate that the department’s investigative units are severely understaffed, contributing to backlogs.
April Frazier, left, and Milli Palmer sit together before speaking last month at a meeting of the Washington State Investment Board, in Olympia, about their experiences at Providence at Home with Compassus, a home health and hospice company. (Photo by Saiyare Refaei)
By Anna Claire Vollers
Washington was among at least seven states last year that enacted laws requiring greater oversight of private equity involvement in healthcare. Joint ventures between private equity firms and nonprofit healthcare providers are now testing these laws, which were designed to increase oversight and prevent the patient harm, hospital closures, mass layoffs and financial failures that followed previous troubled investments.
Nonprofit health systems are legally obligated to prioritize community healthcare needs. In exchange for being exempt from paying most taxes, they must provide needed services that may not be profitable, and reinvest excess revenue into patient care and community health. Private equity firms generally focus on maximizing investor returns.
A joint venture here in Washington between Providence and Compassus, a private equity-backed home health company, illustrates some of the potential tensions. One nurse explained how, after the partnership, management began pushing nurses and caseworkers to see more patients during their shifts. Staff who had been doing 13-15 patient visits per week were pressured to complete 20-25 visits. The nurse also said some employees had been asked to lie on paperwork or backdate documents.
By Amanda Watford
More American teenagers seeking treatment for cannabis use disorder, known as CUD for short, are facing longer wait times before receiving care, a new study has found. About 11% of adolescents who use cannabis or marijuana develop CUD within a year, according to the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. With continued use, that risk rises to about 20%. Other research suggests that about 4.7% of adolescents aged 12-17 meet the diagnostic criteria for CUD, a condition in which marijuana use becomes difficult to control and begins interfering with daily life. According to the study, nearly 34% of adolescents, defined as children aged 12-17, seeking treatment for cannabis use disorder in 2022 experienced an admission delay.
ICYMI
Ferguson kicks off fight to defeat WA income tax repeal initiative | by Jake Goldstein-Street
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