WA Republicans walk out in protest after bill closing Rainier School advances
Washington Republican lawmakers walked out of an executive session Wednesday after a controversial bill that would close Rainier School was advanced out of committee.
Rainier School, located in Buckley in Pierce County, is a state-run residential habilitation center (RHC) for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Every Republican on the House Appropriations Committee left in protest after Senate Bill 5393 advanced.
The bill proposes closing Rainier School by June 30, 2027. The Department of Social and Health Services would be required to relocate existing residents, including to community settings or remaining institutions.
Washington now runs Rainier School plus three other RHCs: Lakeland Village in Medical Lake, Fircrest School in Shoreline and Yakima Valley in Selah.
State Rep. Travis Couture, an Allyn Republican who is the ranking Republican on the committee, said in a Wednesday news release that the walk-out hadn’t been planned ahead of the meeting. Still, he said, “there comes a moment when you must draw the line.”
“This bill is one of the most disgusting, cold-hearted proposals I’ve seen in my time in office,” Couture said. “It puts lives on the line — plain and simple.”
Senate and House Democrats have both proposed plans in their budgets that would shutter Rainier School, although the House’s version would also close Yakima Valley School.
Pro-closure advocates argue that such facilities are outdated and costly, and that there have been too many cases of abuse and mismanagement.
But critics say shutting RHCs down would harm vulnerable Washingtonians who live there and their families. Some residents with disabilities have already tried and failed to live in the community, they say.
A news release about the walkout says that Rainier School is a “lifeline” for people with significant needs that can’t be met by the current community-based system. RHCs offer peace of mind for families, some of whom have testified against the proposal because they don’t want their loved ones to be displaced, the news release says.
State Rep. Joshua Penner, an Orting Republican, said in a Wednesday interview that Republicans had introduced practical amendments that were “rooted in the reality of former closures.” But, he added, Democrats refused to improve the proposal in any way.
“It terrifies a rational person just looking at it,” Penner said of SB 5393. He then referenced impassioned testimony delivered by some of his GOP colleagues before the vote.
“It’s emotional for a lot of people, and it’s really confusing for a lot of people, because it doesn’t seem like it should be a partisan issue,” he said.
Republicans contend that alternative facilities often don’t offer the necessary level of care. They’ve claimed the legislation lacks a clear plan to ensure Rainier School residents don’t wind up in jails, hospitals or on the streets.
But Democrats say that they’re working to ensure the successful transitions of Rainier School’s residents.
Democratic state Rep. Darya Farivar of Seattle said while she understands where Republicans are coming from, she also disagrees. Farivar noted that this is a complex issue that the disability community has been talking about for decades: The system isn’t working right now.
“(The conversation) can’t be just focused on the fear of what happens after,” she said in an interview. “I want us to also know that what’s happening inside those facilities right now is also scary.”
RHCs were initially established for temporary-treatment purposes, Farivar said. Residents weren’t supposed to stay for their entire lives, but instead meant to return to the community after addressing their struggles.
Over the years, though, facilities haven’t been used as originally intended, she said. Some residents have gotten hurt through abuse or neglect. Looking ahead, it’s important to give residents a spectrum of choices on where to go next, whether to another RHC or elsewhere in the community.
“The reality is is that we can’t pay $800,000 per person, per year, for a really substandard level of care when we could be reinvesting that into the system as a whole,” she said. “Folks could be receiving a lot more cost-effective care and better quality of care in the community — where they have been intended to be this whole time.”
Democratic budget writers are working to ensure that reinvestments are allocated to other RHCs if needed, she said. And a new 120-bed nursing facility is slated to open in 2027 at the Fircrest facility in Shoreline.
Still, Republicans aren’t going down without a fight.
“I hope better angels become part of our nature and the Democrats don’t pull it to the floor,” Penner said. “But if they do, I know every one of my colleagues is ready to take this all the way to the end.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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