Hobbs proposes boosting reimbursement rates for Snohomish supported living providers

OLYMPIA — Returning to Olympia a week before the 2008 Legislature is set to begin, Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, is already working to get colleagues to sign on to a key part of his legislative agenda for the new year.

Hobbs is sponsoring Senate Bill 6192 to provide Snohomish county supported living vendors the same reimbursement rate as King county vendors.

“Recent vendor rate increases provided a higher rate increase for King county, but that only exacerbated the disparity in rates with Snohomish county,” said Hobbs, who is vice-chair of the Senate Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee. “This lures Snohomish county workers to King county for the higher salaries, and causes an unsustainably high turnover in Snohomish county.”

Since the cost of doing business for supported living providers is nearly identical in King and Snohomish counties, SB 6192 would redefine the geographical classifications used by the Department of Social & Health Services to put those two counties in the same category.

“I think this is a straightforward piece of legislation, so I took the time to pre-file it and get co-sponsors to improves its chances of getting passed during our short session,” Hobbs said, noting that the Legislature meets for just 60 days this year, and will focus primarily on necessary budget changes and unresolved legislation from the previous session.

The 2008 legislative session begins on Monday, Jan. 14 and is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, March 13

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