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Watchdog on the job

It seems there are finally some lawmakers in Olympia with some common sense. Our own state Sen. Jeff Baxter was one of four legislators who demanded the resignation of DSHS official Troy Hutson after his remarks excusing rampant fraud in the state’s welfare and food stamp program.

I was outraged when I read that DSHS replaced an average of 27,000 “lost” state-issued welfare debit cards each month last year. That’s right, every month, 27,000 people “lose” their welfare debit card and DSHS gave them a new one, no questions asked. But I was even more outraged with Hutson’s lax response.

Apparently I wasn’t alone in my outrage; Sen. Baxter and his colleagues immediately called for Hutson to step down.

It isn’t very often a state bureaucrat is held accountable for allowing taxpayers to be fleeced, but thanks to Sen. Baxter, that is exactly what happened. My only disappointment is that more lawmakers didn’t join Sen. Baxter in his outrage.

Thank you, Sen. Baxter, for protecting my tax dollars.

Troy Dehnel

Medical Lake



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