Rep. Joshua Penner warns House Appropriations Committee: Closing RHCs without a plan will cost lives | Committee speech on House Bill 1198 (operating budget)
In this sobering testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Joshua Penner, R-Orting, speaks from a place not of anger—but of deep fear.
As lawmakers consider an amendment to SB 5167 (the state operating budget), Penner pleads for more time, more planning, and more humanity before defunding Washington’s Residential Habilitation Centers (RHCs), including Rainier School and Yakima Valley School. The current proposal would shutter these critical facilities in just two years—with no concrete plan for where those with the most severe developmental disabilities will go.
Penner makes it clear: he isn’t defending the status quo. He’s defending lives. Hundreds—if not thousands—of Washingtonians with profound disabilities depend on RHCs because no other viable options exist.
Watch his full speech here.
 - https://joshuapenner.houserepublicans.wa.gov/2025/03/28/rep-joshua-penner-warns-house-appropriations-committee-closing-rhcs-without-a-plan-will-cost-lives-committee-speech-on-hb-1198-operating-budget/){kind=link}