Proposed budget cut could eliminate interpreters for thousands in Washington

About 70,000 Washington residents who have limited English may lose access to interpreters during medical visits under a proposed budget cut.
The spending cut proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire would eliminate a state-financed program that subsidizes interpreter services to medical clinics and hospitals who serve Medicaid patients.
At about $2 million, the proposed cut is a moderate one out of the governor’s emergency budget reductions, but one of the dozens needed as Gregoire and legislators grapple with a state budget that keeps falling in deeper deficits. Lawmakers met in a special session Saturday to approve steps for trimming a $1.1 billion budget deficit through June. Another, larger deficit in the next two-year budget also awaits when lawmakers return for regular meetings in January.
The interpreter program is conducted by the Department of Social and Health Services, which had been ordered to cut $113 million from its spending, spokesman Jim Stevenson said.
The cut was originally set to be implemented next month, but after heavy lobbying, that date has been pushed back to March, giving lawmakers time to reconsider.