The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

The Legislature gave second-round approval to budget bills this past week, working late each evening. This will allow the budget to be read on Final Reading next week, meeting the requirement to have it passed by the 50th legislative day. The budget provides funding to cover salary increases recently negotiated with the union and the state for employees at correctional facilities and other 24/7 facilities that were experiencing dangerous staffing shortages. Worker shortages and competition also necessitated provider rate increases for nursing homes, behavior health providers, developmental...