CAC Legislative Breakfast Summary A celebration of progress and a call to action for our community The Arc of WA is grateful to be an integral member of The Community Advocacy Coalition (CAC), a dynamic alliance comprising over 50 community-based organizations serving individuals with developmental disabilities. The CAC brings together self-advocates, parents, providers, and […]
Honoring Mike Raymond By: Shawn Latham Mike Raymond, a Washington State self-advocacy leader, was born in 1947 and passed away on September 17. Mike advocated over the last 50 years to shut down the Developmental Disability Institutions, also called Residential Habilitation Centers. In particular, Mike fought for the closure of Rainier School in Buckley, one […]
Contact Congress: Critical Disability Services Are at Risk Thank you for your powerful advocacy throughout this challenging year. We know it can be discouraging at times, but please remember: your voice is making a difference. Every story you share, every call you make, and every message you send reminds Congress that people with disabilities and their families are […]
HR1 Medicaid Cuts: What Happened and What’s Next On July 4, the President signed into law HR1—“The Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a sweeping budget reconciliation package that makes historic cuts to healthcare, nutrition, and disability services. These revisions represent some of the most impactful and harmful changes to Medicaid and SNAP (food assistance) in recent […]
Staggering Impact of the Bill: The Congressional Budget Office projects that this bill will slash $912 billion over the next decade, with $715 billion coming directly from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act— more than the initial target of $880 billion. These cuts will cause approximately 8.6 million people to lose their health coverage. Who […]
Sine Die: 2025 Legislative Session Wrap-Up On Sunday afternoon, the gavel fell, and just like that, the 2025 legislative session came to a close. It was a session filled with highs and lows, drama, controversy, and moments so intense they were “better than TV.” In the end, a budget was passed, compromises were made, […]
Disability Rights: From History to Action I love history—especially learning how movements begin, how ordinary people make extraordinary differences, and how the threads of their work are still woven into our lives today. Recently, I watched several powerful documentaries about the civil rights movement for people with disabilities. One that stood out was “Change Not […]
Legislative Update: Wait! Just When We Thought We Were Coming to the End! On March 24th, both the House and Senate released their budgets, and we thought we were on the downhill slope of the legislative session. Then, on the afternoon of April 1st, Governor Ferguson held a press conference stating that he would not […]
Your Voices Are Being Heard Spring is in full swing, and so is our advocacy work—both at the state and federal levels. We are over halfway through the 105-day state legislative session. At this point in the year, when the sun starts coming out more but the long slog of reading news and testifying on […]
Last Wednesday, spring was in the air—the sun was shining, and a few early daffodils peeked through the grounds of the Capitol. It was a beautiful day, made even more powerful by the nearly 300 advocates who gathered on the steps of the Capitol to rally for community services. SAIL, The Arc, The DDC, Community […]
Address: The Arc of Washington State, 2638 State Avenue NE Olympia, WA 98506
Phone: (360) 357-5596 | Toll Free: (888) 754-8798 | Fax: (360) 357-3279 | Email: info@arcwa.org
