House Bill Would Abolish Dshs
The Department of Social and Health Services is a “giant black hole,” says Rep. Bill Reams.
That is why the Bellevue Republican is sponsoring legislation to abolish the department. His bill, HB1187, sparked lively debate in its first hearing Friday in the House Government Operations Committee.
The bill would split the department into five new agencies, covering human services central support; income and medical assistance; long-term care; children, youth and family services; and health and rehabilitative services.
DSHS Secretary Jean Soliz told the panel that dismantling her agency would be a big mistake.
“Breaking up DSHS is the wrong approach,” she said. “The department provides people with an umbrella of services.”
Reams said the umbrella doesn’t work. The agency is too big and bureaucratic, he said.
“It is a total administrative and organizational mess. A citizen needs a translator to deal with their own taxpayer-supported service,” Reams said.
In the current two-year budget period, DSHS’s budget made up nearly 25 percent of state general fund spending. Its budget, including federal and other money, totaled $9.1 billion. The department has more than 16,000 full-time employees.
That’s too large, said Rep. Cheryl Hymes, R-Mount Vernon.
“The services are not trickling down to citizens who need them because of the weight of the structure,” she said. “I wouldn’t know where to look in the phone book if I needed help.”
Soliz said DSHS is able to offer “one-stop shopping” to people, which is important because twothirds of all DSHS clients need more than one service.
“For example, child support and income assistance are normally tied together,” Soliz said.
Rep. Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, agreed. “It isn’t perfect, but we need to think of the person who needs the services,” he said.
Gov. Mike Lowry said Wednesday that he opposes the effort to break up the department, adding that it’s ironic that Republican sponsors of the measure also are calling for smaller budgets and less government.
The plan is “the opposite of streamlining and consolidation and it costs money,” Lowry said.