Health care versus education.
Washington State Legislature is dealing with a huge shortfall in revenue for the next 2 year period; called the biennium.
Big cuts are coming, including cuts to health care.
For instance, more people need the "sliding scale" insurance plan called Basic Health. There have been many layoffs leading to even more folks without private insurance. Rather than expanding to meet need, the Washington Basic Health is being cut. It's waiting list for new enrollees is already long and getting longer. Some folks who are now on the plan are being taken off as the number of slots shrinks, rather than grows.
The cuts are scary, like pulling the plug on people. There are other health care cutbacks as well.
One of our legislators, Doug Erickson, Republican of Ferndale was in the news.
I saw in Bellingham Herald.
He said majority Democrats were giving voters “a false choice.”
“You are saying to them, ‘raise taxes or people will die,’” he said. “I think that’s incredible, that we cannot re prioritize our spending so that people do not die.”
OK, what does he mean by "re prioritize our spending?"
Education is (I think) the biggest chunk of state budget. It's being cut also, but would need to be cut farther to fund some of these health care programs without tax increases.
Other parts of the budget, like the arts and so forth are pretty much "small potatoes."
Cutting education, that's OK with me.
I would guess there is as much waste in education as anywhere in the budget. Problem is, our state has a constitutional mandate to fund education "high priority." This makes it harder to juggle money around. Also education is getting a lot of cuts anyway. Big cuts.
I'd even be for eliminating that constitutional mandate which puts education first.
Seems that, in practice, "emergency services and public safety;" (the police and fire) come first anyway. I'm including local government as part of the state picture. Years ago, I learned in a Washington State history class (my schooling at work) that local governments are considered entities of state governments. The local police and cities are part of the whole government mix, sort of like local school districts.
It's not easy to juggle a declining budget especially as needs continue increasing.
I don't think the Democrats are trying to hold health care hostage for tax increases. It's just that health care and education are such big pieces of the puzzle that it's hard to juggle anything without impacting them.
Maybe this Legislature should juggle the budget around more in favor of health care. This would probably mean even bigger cuts in education. Possibly even getting around the constitutional mandate giving education top priority.
Let's define health care as education.
That's how we can get around the mandate.
Yes, funding health care is part of the state's obligation to fund education.
You ask, how so?
Let's say that access to a doctor can be very educational. For instance, I was a little surprised to learn, a few years ago, that my cholesterol was a bit high. Even with all that exercise I get. The doctor produced pages and pages of dietary advise for me. More fruits and vegetables, less cheeses.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Access to doctors can provide a kind of education that everyone needs. Encouragement to eat better and do more things like bicycling.
Are the schools good at doing this? Maybe.
As society transitions toward a more sustainable economy, a lot of education will need to take place. Much of this education takes place in other spots besides school.
Some doctors are not as good as others when it comes to prevention and lifestyle education.
I realize that many doctors rely on over medication, for instance.
Also doctors can be too expensive and some patients don't listen to common sense advice either.
The advice will vary from patient to patient, but it does seem like access to a doctor can be a first step toward education for healthier and more sustainable lifestyles.
Allowing folks, including low income people, to at least have some access to health care is important. Healthier lifestyles is something the entire public could learn more about.
Ride your bike even after Earth Day. It all connects.
Saturday saw me bicycling from Bellingham to Mount Vernon. I wasn't even thinking I would make it as far as Mount Vernon or the Skagit Valley's "traffic clogged" tulip fields. I got a late start. 
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