Authorizing Bellevue college to offer bachelor of science degrees in computer science.

Allowing critical access hospitals participating in the Washington rural health access preservation pilot to resume critical access hospital payment and licensure.

Offers small critical access hospitals the opportunity to pilot different delivery and payment models than may be currently allowed under the critical access hospital program.

Exempting from state and local taxes on-site sewage system fees required by a local government to be paid by an on-site sewage system owner to an on-site sewage system contractor or inspector.

Concerning designated disaster area financing.

Concerning state hospital practices.

Requires the department of social and health services to: (1) Evaluate the current staffing structure and assignment of work at the state hospitals to increase its use of psychiatric advanced registered nurse practitioners;

(2) Hire psychiatric advanced registered nurse practitioners for vacant positions or to perform work and tasks that may be performed by other job classifications and professions at the state hospitals;

(3) Identify and discharge at least thirty patients at western state hospital to alternative settings by January 1, 2017;

(4) In order to address safety at the state hospitals, examine staffing patterns, best practices, and discrepancies in staffing practices between the state hospitals and prevailing business practices in other hospitals, and adjust staffing practices where appropriate; and

(5) Develop a transition plan in collaboration with its actuarial consultant, behavioral health organizations, and equivalent entities in full integration regions detailing the requirements for implementation of certain policy changes in section 1(2) of this act within a reasonable but proximate period of time.

Requires a behavioral health organization to manage the utilization of long-term civil commitment beds purchased at a state hospital or other facility by patients within the catchment area of the behavioral health organization who receive civil commitments and ensure that the patients efficiently transition into the community.

Develops placement for geriatric and long-term care patients at western state hospital and reduces current demands on state hospital staff.

Requires the legislature to convene a work group to review the development of the transition plan and provide input into the progress.

Concerning wildfire management.

Establishes the wildfire management act.

Initiates aggressive action to reduce wildfire fuel and restore forest health conditions.

Creating a flexible voluntary program to allow family members to provide personal care services to persons with developmental disabilities or long-term care needs under a consumer-directed medicaid service program.

Consolidating business assistance programs and services.

Creates the office for regulatory innovation and assistance in the department of commerce.

Abolishes the office of regulatory assistance and transfers its powers, duties, and functions to the office for regulatory innovation and assistance.

Concerning the review of state and local homelessness prevention, assistance, and housing efforts.

Creating support public schools special license plates.

Creates support public schools special license plates.

Creates the safety corps account and requires all receipts from the sale of the support public schools special license plates to be deposited into the account.

Requires expenditures from the account to be used only by educational service districts for: (1) School safety training for administrators and security officers;

(2) Monitoring and mapping of school facilities; and

Requiring a joint transportation committee study on the Interstate 405 express toll lanes.

Requires the joint transportation committee to: (1) Conduct a study on the implementation of the Interstate 405 express toll lanes and identify potential improvements; and

(2) Convene a stakeholder group to provide input on the study and conduct a review of the findings of the study.

Expires November 1, 2016.

-- 2016 REGULAR SESSION --
Mar 4	First reading, referred to Transportation.