Committee backs substitute for House Bill 2,200 to shift dashboard to annual report and task JLARC with methodology

The Early Learning & Human Services Committee reported substitute House Bill 2,200 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation after adopting a technical amendment.

Representative Penner, sponsor of the substitute, said the bill directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to conduct a four-year review (2023–2026) of safety and stability outcomes across residential settings for Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) developmental disability clients and to recommend a methodology for ongoing tracking. "By changing that to a demodable report and looking at JLARC to give us a direction on what that would look like, it eliminates, I think, the driver of that fiscal note," Penner said.

The substitute delays JLARC data-collection and reporting dates by one year in the offered substitute and replaces the previously proposed DSHS public dashboard with an annual reporting requirement due Sept. 1 each year beginning in 2028. A technical amendment (HARO 799) was adopted to remove a remaining scrivener reference to a dashboard.

Representative Ortiz Self said she supports moving the measure forward to evaluate what data can be collected. Representative Taylor voiced reservations about public-facing data, saying she feared it could stigmatize providers and "drive out the vendors who are doing very difficult work," citing a provider whose insurance premiums rose dramatically after an incident.

The clerk announced a roll call of 9 ayes and 2 nays; by that vote the committee reported substitute House Bill 2,200 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation.

The committee’s action now sends the substitute to the next legislative step; no implementation timeline beyond the substitute’s specified reporting dates was adopted in committee.