Pam Piering, director of aging and disabilities services for the Seattle Human Services Department said she was disappointed that the House budget proposal, released weeks after the Senate's, offered even less. Bruce Reeves, president of the Senior Citizens' Lobby, is hopeful that he's made that clear to lawmakers. Reeves said he hasn't heard the concerns about the senior lobby. Maybe some of the members haven't visited their legislators as much as they have before. AARP has said it's interested in improving its influence in Olympia.
Some lawmakers say it's about time.
Like it or not, social programs live or die on lobbying. It's sad when we have to deal with the elderly and the disabled in terms of how much money they can spend lobbying. I don't condone it a bit. But that's the way it works. Social service advocates have never boasted the kind of clout carried in this town by bigger campaign contributors, such as business and labor.