Tag Archives: Budget

Port of Seattle Seeks Public Comment

Port of Seattle Schedules Review of Proposed 2020 Budget and Five-Year Plan, Continues Major Investments for the Region’s Future

The Port of Seattle will host two community open houses to review its 2020 budget and five-year capital development plans for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and the Maritime and Economic Development divisions. The plans outline the Port’s blueprint to further invest in infrastructure, maximizing efficiency and service to benefit the economic and environmental vitality of our region. You may read the full press release here, excerpted below.

Port of Seattle Open Houses

Community members are invited to learn about the Port’s preliminary 2020 budget and five-year capital development and investment plans at two upcoming open houses. Port staff will share information about investments at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and in the Maritime and Economic Development divisions. Staff will also share how the Port’s preliminary budget and five-year capital development plans respond to regional need by improving customer service, expanding economic activity across our region, and supporting healthy habitats and communities.

WHEN:             October 22, 2019, 5:30 to 7:30
WHERE:           Pier 69 Atrium (sign in at the front desk)

WHEN:             October 28, 2019, 5:30 to 7:30
WHERE:           Sea-Tac Airport Conference Center

Capital development projects make up the largest share of the Port’s spending. The preliminary 2020 budget includes capital spending of $644 million, with $570 million going to Sea-Tac International Airport, and $74 million going to Maritime and other divisions. In addition to the Port’s capital spending, the Port will contribute 50 percent to capital investments in the Northwest Seaport Alliance for marine cargo projects, including the current construction transforming Terminal 5 into one of the nation’s premier international container terminals.

The Port’s preliminary 2020 operating budget forecasts revenues of $812 million and expenses of $472 million. The 2020 operating budget allows the Port to respond to needs of business and community stakeholders with stronger organizational capability, advanced sustainability, and an improved customer experience at Port facilities.

The Port of Seattle is in the second year of a five-year investment plan designed to make our region a competitive maritime hub. The investments focus on asset preservation and prioritize economic development where our natural advantages align to economic growth opportunities.

Medicaid Cuts Will Cause More Nursing Injuries

Today’s post comes from guest author Jon Rehm, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

While efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid appear to have stalled for now, any successful effort to cut Medicaid will adversely impact workplace safety for nurses and nurse’s aides.

Studies by the National Institutes of Health show that reductions in Medicaid funding leads to less staffing at long term care facilities and that lower staffing leads to more injuries for nursing employees. Since most nurses and nurse’s aides are covered under state-based workers compensation laws the additional costs of work injuries from Medicaid cuts may not be fully accounted for on a federal level.

At least in Nebraska nursing employees have some ways to protect themselves when advocating for safer working conditions even if they do not belong to a union.

Nebraska has a whistleblower law that applies specifically to health care workers, including nurses. The benefit of this act is that it allows employees to recover for damages similar to what they could collect under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act, including front pay and possibly attorney fees, without having to exhaust administrative remedies. Additionally, health care workers would have four years to bring a suit under the health care whistleblowers law, rather than the much shorter and complicated statute of limitations under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act.

Nebraska has a broad general whistleblower law that allows employees to oppose unlawful conduct by their employers. Nebraska law requires that nursing homes to be adequately staffed. Federal law also requires that employers provide a workplace to be free of recognizable hazard. Inadequate staffing would certainly be deemed be a recognizable hazard in a nursing home. The only drawback to Nebraska’s whistleblower law is the short and potentially uncertain statute of limitations.

Nebraska law would also allow nurses reporting inadequate staffing to be protected from retaliation under a public policy claim that also has a four year statute of limitations.

WA State Budget Passed and Signed

No Transit Funding = Unhappy Riders

Governor Inslee issued a letter noting that he had signed the budget into law, averting the shut-down of government offices and services that had been slated to occur as of July 1.  Although we are quite pleased that the shut-down was averted, just the threat of a shut-down caused a ridiculous number of man-hours to be spent preparing for the worst with ripple effects across our cases.  Frankly, some of those ripples were positive as the Claims Managers at the Department of Labor and Industries focused their attention on getting time loss compensation set up for claimants that were not already in the system to receive automatic payments.  We greatly appreciate the efforts put forth by many of the Claims Managers to address our requests for benefits before the deadline.  However, we did have negative impacts, as well, with cases in ligitation where depositions were rescheduled or notification received that, if there were a shut-down, no attorney from the Office of the Attorney General would appear on behalf of the Department.

Unfortunately, one issue that is of great importance to our clientele – transportation funding – did not get the attention it needed during the special legislative session.

Unfortunately, one issue that is of great importance to our clientele – transportation funding – did not get the attention it needed during the special legislative session.  Without a funding plan, King County’s METRO Transit will now be implementing plans for a 17% reduction in service.  This is at a time when ridership is at a peak, returning to levels not seen since the start of the recent recession, and when the need for inexpensive and effective transportation by unemployed, undereployed and disabled people is great.  It has been rumored that another special session may be called by Governor Inslee to address transportation funding.

Photo credit: TheeErin / Foter.com / CC BY-ND