Two promising bills on my radar passed in the state House of Representatives unanimously today, March 4. They should remind us common ground exists on issues, if we look for it. Both bills now move onto the Senate for consideration.

House Bill 1114 would make Washington state part of a Respiratory Care Interstate Compact, allowing respiratory therapists licensed in other states to work here without having to jump through time-consuming and costly licensing hoops. Such an allowance is a smart way to improve patient access to care and strengthen Washington’s health care workforce. 

Another bill in the health care arena, House Bill 1186, expands situations in which a full course of medication can be dispensed from hospitals or health care entities to patients. ​​This bill will help in situations where a patient cannot get to a pharmacy in a timely manner. As a Democratic press release explained, the bill aims to reduce medical waste and increase accessibility for patients who live in pharmacy deserts. See more details here.

A recent meeting I had with Gov. Bob Ferguson’s team was another good reminder of the common ground underneath us. I heard the governor’s desire to cut costs and control spending, as he committed to doing in both his inaugural speech and a Feb. 27 press conference, and I immediately thought, “I wanna help!” 

His staff accepted my meeting request and we discussed ideas about cost savings within Medicaid, from wasteful concurrent payments to ending long-term-care benefits for some people who are not in need of taxpayer dependency. I also expressed concerns about payroll taxes eating at workers’ paychecks and the government’s involvement in keeping public employees unknowledgeable about their free-speech rights when it comes to union affiliation. They invited me to seek another meeting after the busy legislative session. 

This administration seems serious about government efficiency and a quest for cost savings, and it is finding some. It has a long way to go before being able to balance the state budget without new taxes or revenue increases, but it deserves credit for a hopeful start.