Learn more about bills that will support people living with brain injury and write you representatives to show your support. Every comment counts!

First, some quick context: the way Brain Injury support programs are funded in Washington is through a fee (currently $5) applied to traffic tickets for moving violations.

• These fees go into a traumatic brain injury account (“TBI Account”)
• The traumatic brain injury advisory council (“TBI Council”) advises DSHS how to utilize the funds.

You can read the details here.

All the buttons that say “Contact your representatives” takes you to a page specific to that bill where all you have to do it enter your name and address and your representatives will automatically populate. You can then indicate you support the bill and provide a comment.

House Bill 2248 – Support for Individuals with Brain Injury

THE ISSUES

• TBI Council positions designated for community representation are filled mostly with state employees, leaving the rest of the community underrepresented.
• There is lack of transparency with the TBI Council meetings and there is no ability for the public to provide comment.
• Over the last 6 years community driven support organizations have lost all funding previously provided through the TBI Account. These programs have been around for nearly three decades and are the backbone of infrastructure and support for people and their family systems living with brain injury. They have been defunded and supplanted with generic information and referral services and online webinars.

BOTTOM LINE
This bill would ensure diverse community representation on the TBI Council, require basic transparency measures on TBI Council meetings, and reinstate funding to in-person support groups in the community.

ADDITIONAL NOTES
This bill didn’t make it past Appropriations and won’t continue in the 2024 Legislative Session. However we will continue to work on it and bring it back for the 2025 session. It helps to voice your support and bring this to the forefront of your representatives to pave the way for next legislative session.

Engrossed Substitute HB 2384 – Relating to automated traffic safety cameras

THE ISSUES

• At the moment the fee that funds the traumatic brain injury account is only assessed for handwritten tickets.
• Due to the proliferation of automated traffic cameras and the decrease in handwritten tickets, the account has reached unsustainable levels to support the needs of the brain injury community.
• As a result, all support programs that were previously funded through this account have lost their funding. This has resulted in facilitators and organizers going unpaid, families self-funding these groups, and disruption/cancellation of essential programs while organizers are scrambling to figure out how to keep them going.

BOTTOM LINE
This update ensures that the fee on moving violations will be applied to both handwritten and automated camera tickets, helping restore a more sustainable budget for the traumatic brain injury account (“TBI Account”).

HB 1802 – Nothing About Us Without Us

THE ISSUE
TBI Council positions designated for the community representation are filled mostly with state employees, leaving people from the community underrepresented. This has resulted in systematic defunding of essential support programs run by the community, while funds are being directed back to state agency programs.

BOTTOM LINE
This will require any group established by the legislature whose activities are related to people with disabilities to have representation of those with direct lived experience related to the issues being addressed.

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Disability Rights Washington has built a coalition around this bill. You can get involved and learn more on their website.