AN ACT Relating to updating the supported living cost report;
Summary
HB 2600 updates Washington’s supported living cost report requirements and adds a new section to chapter 71A RCW. The bill directs the Department of Social and Health Services to revise the supported living cost report template by July 1 so it better complies with federal law and regulations and is more useful for addressing the direct support professional workforce shortage in supported living. The updated template must include more detailed staffing, wage, benefits, and revenue information, including full-time equivalent counts, numbers of staff by type, weighted average base hourly wages, employer-paid benefits, paid time off, and disaggregated revenue line items.
The bill also creates a supported living work group to develop Medicaid rate recommendations aimed at improving compensation for direct support professionals. The work group includes state officials, supported living providers, a disability advocate, and union representatives. It is tasked with considering how providers should use instructional support services rates to improve wages and may recommend penalties for noncompliance. The department may hire a private entity to analyze the submitted data, must provide administrative support to the work group, and must issue a final report to the Legislature by December 1 with findings and recommendations. The new section expires September 30, 2027.
Impact
HB 2600 would amend reporting and data-collection practices for supported living providers under Washington law, specifically within chapter 71A RCW. It does not directly change eligibility for services, but it expands the Department of Social and Health Services’ authority and obligations to collect more detailed financial and workforce information from providers and to convene a formal stakeholder process on Medicaid rate-setting and wage investment proposals. The bill affects supported living organizations, direct support professionals, people with developmental disabilities who receive supported living services, and the state agencies responsible for administering and funding those services.
Sentiment
Based on the bill’s structure and purpose, the overall sentiment appears supportive of improving transparency, workforce stability, and compensation in the supported living system. The bill is framed as a response to a direct support professional workforce shortage and seeks to gather better data to inform rate recommendations and wage investments. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no evidence in the available record of formal opposition or divided sentiment.
Contention
The main likely points of contention are the scope of reporting burdens on providers, the potential use of penalties for failing to follow work group recommendations, and how wage investment proposals would affect Medicaid rates and provider finances. Providers may be concerned about administrative complexity and compliance costs, while worker representatives and disability advocates are likely to favor stronger wage and staffing standards. The inclusion of both nonprofit and for-profit providers, along with union and non-affiliated disability representation, suggests the bill tries to balance competing interests around compensation, accountability, and service delivery.
Revised for 1st substitute: Supporting economic security by updating provisions related to the home security fund and the essential needs and housing support program.