State budget crisis impacting county's health department

The potential of a shutdown of governmental services and employee layoffs because of the state legislature's failure to pass a budget for the biennium beginning July 1 is affecting county services as well.

On Tuesday, Wahkiakum County commissioners agreed to suspend state contracts if there's no budget bill by July 1. A suspension of the contracts allows them to restart once there is a state funding appropriation.

Department of Health and Human Services (H&HS)programs will be curtailed, Director Sue Cameron said Tuesday.

In a background report to the board of county commissioners, Cameron wrote that the state constitution prohibits the state Department of Health (DOH) from expending funds without legislative appropriation, and without appropriation, DOH won't be able to fulfill its contract obligations.

The DOH funds a variety of programs run through Health and Human Services. These include:

--The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food voucher and health program;

--Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response training and coordination;

Immunization services;

--Youth Tobacco Prevention activities;

--Maternal Child Health and Children with Special Needs services;

--Funds to accomplish local DOH required projects, and

--The Blue Ribbon Program to address chronic disease.

"It's going to affect the community," Cameron said. "That's the sad part of it."

H&HS fiscal officer Chris Weiler said landlords and tenants in the county's housing support programs are being notified of the possible loss of funds causing a disruption in payments.

Mental Health program manager Chris Holmes added that staff would try to keep mental health and chemical dependency programs open.

"We have to keep crisis services going," he said.

DOH planned to send a suspension contract to Cameron this week to be signed and returned by June 30.

Normally, the board of commissioners would act on and sign the contracts, but with no more meetings scheduled this month, commissioners authorized Cameron to sign the documents, pending review by the prosecuting attorney's office.

A delay that would force layoffs of state workers on July 1 would also impact county workers whose jobs are funded by state contracts.

Cameron said she checked with Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow and was told that the county union employees' contract requires a 30 day notice prior to any layoff.

"Therefore," she said, "even with a suspended amendment in place protecting Wahkiakum County's financial obligations under the DOH Consolidated Contract, county employee wages and benefits would be the county's responsibility for the affected personnel, for potentially up to 30 days..."

On Tuesday, commission Chair Blair Brady said he had discussed the situation with the union representatives. They understood what was going on in the Legislature, he said. He added that the 30-day layoff notice requirement "is not a full requirement."

"All of the employees know, too, that if the money goes away, the job goes away," Brady said.