WWW . THESKANNER . COM
M AY 22, 2013
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXV, N O . 33
25
CENTS
For The Skanner
news alerts
Text "NEWS" to
503-715-0890 or
scan this QR code
C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
DIXIE’S FIGHT
Report:
What a
Waste!
Homes in foreclosure
are destroying our
community wealth
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
T
Surrounded by supporters at a press conference outside her home in Seattle's Central District, cancer survivor Dixie
Mitchell talks about her struggle with foreclosure. Mitchell obtained a mortgage modification two years ago, but her
monthly mortgage payments still take up two-thirds of her fixed income.
Republican Legislators Push For 30 Bills
Senate Democrats say they’re playing politics with state budget
By Rachel La Corte
and Mike Baker
The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) —
As lawmakers wrap up their
first week of a special legisla-
tive session, Senate majority
leaders have asked that more
than 30 bills be considered as
part of the budget discussions.
A list of 33 measures,
obtained by The Associated
Press on Friday, was submitted
during a private meeting Thurs-
day, including bills dealing with
changes to the workers’ com-
pensation system, education
bills and other bills tied to the
budget, including funding for
state parks and higher educa-
tion. Senate Republican Leader
Mark Schoesler declined to
comment on the list Friday.
Senate Minority Leader Ed
Murray, D-Seattle, said that
focusing on so many bills dur-
ing a special session “is not a
good faith effort in compro-
mise.”
Murray noted that his caucus
would still like to see several
INDEX
News .....................2,3,6
Calendar ....................2
Opinion .......................4
Bids/Classifieds............7
Democratic
priority
bills
passed, including new rules
related to abortion insurance
and financial aid for young
immigrants, but said his caucus
has not presented a similar list
as the majority, saying the focus
needs to be on the budget.
“I don’t believe the budget
should be taken hostage to any
particular bill,’’ he said. ``That
goes for both sides.’’
Senate Majority Leader Rod-
ney Tom, the Democratic leader
of the predominantly Republi-
can majority in the Senate, did
not return a call seeking com-
ment.
Washington
lawmakers
returned to the Capitol on Mon-
day for a special legislative ses-
sion to address a projected
budget deficit of more than $1.2
billion for the next two-year
budget, plus a court-ordered
increase in funding for the
state’s education system.
Budget writers in the House
and Senate have been meeting
since the regular session
adjourned on April 28, and reg-
See OLYMPIA on page 3
he foreclosure crisis continues to
destroy wealth on a large scale across
the U.S. and here in Seattle. Due to
historical inequities and predatory banking
practices, the most devastating impact has
been felt in communities of color. The fore-
closure rate for majority communities of
color is more than twice as high as it is for
segregated white communities (11 per 1,000
and 5 per 1,000 respectively).
This among the key findings of a new
study, “Wasted Wealth: The Foreclosure
Epidemic, a Generational Crisis for Com-
munities of Color,” released today by Wash-
ington Community Action Network,
Alliance for a Just Society and the Seattle
King County NAACP. The Wasted Wealth
report analyzes 2012 foreclosure data to cal-
culate lost wealth, examines the ongoing
threat of foreclosures-in-waiting, and
explores the economic impacts of principal
reduction.
Citywide, communities in Seattle lost
$289 million in wealth due to the foreclo-
sure crisis in 2012, or $900 per household.
However, communities with higher concen-
trations of people of color saw more wealth
lost per household: $1,400 per household
for majority-people of color communities
and only $600 in segregated white commu-
nities. Even communities with only above
average people of color population saw over
one-and-a-half times the amount of wealth
lost per household than segregated white
communities.
Among recent borrowers, nearly 8 percent
of both African Americans and Latinos have
been foreclosed upon, compared to 4.5 per-
cent of Whites. Data also shows that the
Latino community in the Seattle area was
one of the hardest hit. From 2005-2009 Lati-
no households saw a 66 percent drop in
household wealth.
The report found there were over 48,000
underwater mortgages in Seattle on the
books in 2012 and another $805 million in
wealth at stake if a share of these mortgages
See HOMES on page 3
Care Transitions: Whose Job is it Anyway?
Conference seeks to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions
H
ow can we decrease avoidable hos-
pital admissions that significantly
add to the cost of health care? That
is the topic of an upcoming half-day confer-
ence, “Care Transitions: Whose Job Is It
Anyway?” on Thursday, May 30, 2013,
8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Valley Medical Cen-
ter’s Medical Arts Center Auditorium (4033
Talbot Rd S, 1st floor, Renton). Register
online by May 22.
The conference is coordinated by Aging
and Disability Services—the Area Agency
on Aging for King County—in collabora-
tion with Valley Medical Center and Qualis
Health, the Quality Improvement Organiza-
tion for Washington and Idaho. Participants
will include south King County community
leaders, policymakers, hospital and home
health care administrators, discharge plan-
ners, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social
service providers, and health care con-
sumers.
“Care Transitions: Whose Job Is It Any-
way?” continues a community conversation
that began last year when health care and
human services professionals and others
met to discuss new ways to work together to
decrease avoidable hospital admissions.
See CARE on page 3