February 2, 2006 was a great, if wet, day for over 2,000 of Washington's Asian Pacific Islander Americans. Gathered under tents to protect them from the usual liquid sunlight (so well known by Washingtonians) representatives gathered from Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Yakima, as well as other communities around the state, to voice their support for a program to be considered by the state legislature in 2006.
Governor Gregoire addressed the rally and was followed to the podium by leading APIA legislators. The attendees loudly hailed the request put together by the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition for a program that focused on the “vulnerable and needy residents” and sought state aid for programs to improve medical assistance and immigrant services. The state was asked to restore some of the programs that were crippled by lack of funds over the last four years.
The state legislature was asked to take the following actions:
3. Stop the state assessing for liquidated damages for exceeding Western State Hospital Census and pay King County RSN for past liquidated damages so the funds can be used to support outpatient clients.
4. Resubmit actuarial rates to recognize actual cost of providing services in King County.
5. Consider setting an acceptable percentage of Non-Medicaid clients which RSNs are allowed to serve and reallocate some state-only funds to create more equal access among counties.
6. Pass HB 2970 and SB 6628, which prohibit imposition of full-family sanctions in the WorkFirst Program to prevent more families from becoming homeless and children from entering the child welfare system.
7. Appropriate $46 million to balance the WorkFirst budget avoiding cuts in childcare and other services.
8. Appropriate an additional $1.5 million to maintain the LEP Pathways program and prevent reduction of assistance by contracted service providers as the number of immigrants is increasing.
9. Fund health care for all eligible immigrant children up to 100% of the poverty level.
10. Pass HB 2333 or SB 6145 to achieve parity and fairness for agency home care workers.
11. Restore funding to Area Agencies on Aging for case management to the 2004 level.
12. Support HB 2582, which allows students under 21 who have completed minimum state graduation requirements, but who have not passed the WASL, to enroll in a high school completion program and earn a high school diploma.
13. Support HB 2581 to create a grant program to enhance outreach to communities of color and low-income communities to increase community involvement in student achievement.
14. Provide additional funding to expand the Governor's supplemental budget proposal for targeted academic support programs for students not meeting the 10th grade WASL to include those not meeting the 7th grade WASL.
15. Fund the Professional Educator Standards Board to provide 30 additional loan scholarship for prospective bilingual teachers.
16. Pass HB 2594 to insure ballot access for all citizens, including citizens who are non-native English speakers.
17. Approve $25,000 to study how to reunite Filipino American WWII veterans who became citizens with their families who have been denied entry.
18. Provide capital funding support for the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, the Indochinese cultural Center and the Korean Women's Association.
OCA - GREATER SEATTLE CHAPTER
