Legislative Commentary

Anyone who wonders why our Senate majority is making a big deal about holding state agencies accountable simply needs to read a news report from Friday, headlined “Western State psychiatric hospital overpays doctor almost $72,000.”

Western State is the counterpart of Medical Lake’s Eastern State Hospital, the two mental hospitals run by the state Department of Social and Health Services. The Pierce County facility already is the subject of one of the several mismanagement scandals going on across state government, after federal investigators found safety violations that placed patients at risk...