Prevention Alliance
SHAPING PREVENTION TOGETHER
The Prevention Alliance is a gathering space for groups that share a common vision: to create and support healthy people in healthy communities across Washington State.
During the Washington State legislative session, members meet weekly to review legislation and identify opportunities to promote healthy initiatives.
During the off season, members work together to develop policy, system, and environment strategies for healthy changes at the state, regional, and community levels.
Who we are
Alliance members represent nearly 60 organizations across a variety of sectors. Along with “traditional” health partners—such as medical providers, hospital systems, and public health agencies—our membership includes groups dedicated to other factors that determine health, such as active living, healthy eating, substance abuse prevention, transportation, gun safety, behavioral health, and home visiting.
What we do
Active since its inception in 2013, the Prevention Alliance counts a number of landmark pieces of legislation among its successes, including legislation related to:
- E-cigarettes and vaping
- Expanding school breakfast
- Strengthening childhood immunization
- Passage of the nation’s first public option for health insurance
We were also instrumental in securing funding for a variety of issues, including:
- Active transportation programs
- Increasing addiction treatment services
- Expanding the number of home visiting slots
- The Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools grant program, which provides funds to schools for cooking equipment, water bottle filling stations, and physical education equipment.
Member Benefits
Health Policy News You Can Use. A weekly e-newsletter announcing the key events shaping policy in Olympia during legislative session.
Weekly Bill Tracker. A tool that communicates the status of bills and budget items, and presents opportunities for action each week.
Weekly lobbyist meetings during the legislative session to strategize on how to elevate and advance prevention issues, and to work through any roadblocks, so prevention advocates can present a united front and magnify our impact. The meetings also equip Prevention Alliance member lobbyists to take action on bills outside their typical focus areas.
Policy Briefs that present in-depth analyses on two to three policy issues per legislative session. Recent policy briefs included:
- Response to the opioid overdose crisis
- Health care access during federal attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act
- Overview of Washington’s new public option
- Budget briefs that present analysis in the heat of session
The Youth Advocacy Guide. Empowering youth to be successful policy advocates with their state legislators.
For more information on the Prevention Alliance, please contact Healthy Gen’s Executive Director, Julie Peterson.
POLICY BRIEFS
Prevention Alliance efforts have supported the development of several in-depth and timely policy briefs on issues impacting the Washington state health policy landscape.
2024 POLICY BRIEFS
Budget Report: Fall 2024 State Budget Landscape
This budget report provides an analysis of the September 2024 revenue forecast, the overall budget landscape in fall of 2024, and an overview of other factors that impact the state budget landscape.
Budget Memo: June 2024 Revenue Forecast
On June 26th, the Economic and Revenue Council released the June 2024 Quarterly Economic & Revenue Forecast. This budget memo summarizes the revenue forecast, which looks at the various revenue sources and the projected impact of economic factors such as unemployment, sales, airline travel (for the ripple effect on Boeing), housing construction and sales, and exports.
Policy Brief: Opioid & Fentanyl Response in WA
This policy brief will provide background on the opioid and fentanyl crisis in Washington and a brief overview of the Washington State Opioid & Overdose Response Plan. It will then give background on the opioid lawsuits and settlements, and a summary of how the funds that have been distributed to the state so far have been appropriated by the legislature during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions.
2024 End of Session Report
This report summarizes the outcomes of the 2024 Prevention Alliance
Strategies, providing descriptions of each strategy on the 2024 Prevention Alliance Policy Platform followed by a summary of the budget items and/or bills for that strategy.
Budget Memo: Final 2024 Supplemental Operating Budget
This memo will provide an overview of the budget and revenue landscape the legislature faced while developing the 2024 supplemental operating budget and a summary of funding levels in the final budget passed by the legislature, including highlights of prevention-related items that were funded.
Budget Memo: House & Senate 2024 Supplemental Operating Budget Proposals
The Senate and House released their respective proposed 2024 supplemental operating budgets on February 18th and 19th respectively. This memo provides an overview of the different operating budget proposals as passed off the floor of each chamber and highlights some of the key investments related to prevention.
2024 Budget Memo: Spring Quarterly Revenue Forecast
On February 14th, the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC) released the Spring quarterly revenue forecast. This budget memo provides an overview of this release.
2023 POLICY BRIEFS
2023 Budget Memo: June Revenue Forecast
On June 27th, the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC) released the June 2023 Quarterly Economic & Revenue Forecast. This budget memo provides an overview of this release.
2023 Session Summary
The following report summarizes the outcomes of the 2023 Prevention Alliance Strategies. The first section of the report includes strategies that successfully passed and/or were funded including both bills & budget items; the second part includes strategies that did not pass this session. The report provides a description of each strategy that was on the 2023 Prevention Alliance Policy Platform followed by a summary of the budget items and/or bills for that strategy.
Budget Memo: House & Senate 2023-25 Operating Budget Proposals
As the legislature works toward the end of the 2023 session, the focus will largely shift to reaching an agreement on a final compromise budget by the time session is scheduled to adjourn on Sunday, April 23rd. The Senate and House released their respective proposed 2023-25 operating budgets on March 23rd and 27th respectively. Following their release, the
proposals were passed out of each of their fiscal committees and chamber floors.
Spring 2023 Revenue & Caseload Forecasts
In Washington, the Economic & Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) releases and adopts four official revenue forecasts each year. These revenue forecasts look at the various revenue sources (sales tax, property tax, real estate excise tax, business & occupation tax, tobacco/marijuana/liquor tax, etc.) and the projected impact of economic factors such as unemployment, sales, airline travel (for the ripple effect on
Boeing), housing construction and sales, exports, etc. Looking at all of these factors, the ERFC builds a forecast for what the state’s estimated revenue will be and how much larger/smaller it is than the previous
forecast.
2022 POLICY BRIEFS
Outdoor Recreation & Its Impact on Health Outcomes
This policy brief provides an overview of the health benefits of outdoor recreation (physical, behavioral, and cognitive health); a discussion of barriers to accessing outdoor recreation, including systemic issues resulting in racial disparities with accessing outdoor recreation; and highlights of some of the progress that has been made in recent years to start addressing these barriers.
Behavioral Health & Crisis Response Systems 2022 Session Outcomes
This policy brief provides a brief overview of behavioral health and crisis response systems, some of the barriers and gaps that hinder access to services, and an overview of some of the progress made during the 2022 legislative session to address these barriers.
Budget Memo: June 2022 Revenue Forecast
On June 22nd, the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC) released the June 2022 Quarterly Economic & Revenue Forecast. The forecast showed continued upward trends in our state revenue collections and budget projections compared to the last quarterly forecast that was released in February. The June forecast projects that when compared to the February forecast (which is what the legislature based the 2022 supplemental budget on), total net state revenue subject to the budget outlook is expected to increase by $1.457 billion in the 2021-23 biennium and $632 million in the 2023-25 biennium.
Budget Landscape: Washington's Capital Gains Tax
This policy brief provides a background on the passage of the capital gains tax in Washington and what is funded with the revenue, an overview of the two current main efforts to repeal the tax, and the potential impact on programs and services funded in the state budget if the tax were to be repealed.
Budget Memo: Final 2022 Supplemental Operating Budget
This memo provides an overview of the budget and revenue landscape the legislature faced while developing the 2022 supplemental operating budget and a summary of funding levels in the final budget passed by the legislature, including highlights of prevention-related items that were funded.
2022 Session Summary
This summary highlights the outcomes of the 2022 Prevention Alliance Strategies. The first section of the report includes strategies that successfully passed and/or were funded including both bills and budget items; the second part includes strategies that did not pass this session. The report provides each strategy and description that was on the 2022 Prevention Alliance Policy Platform followed by a summary of the successful budget items and/or bills that passed for that strategy.
Budget Memo: Spring 2022 Revenue & Caseload Forecasts
On February 16th, the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC) released the Spring quarterly revenue forecast. The forecast shows a continued improvement in the economic and revenue landscape in Washington.
Policy Brief: Behavioral Health & Crisis Response Systems in Washington
This policy brief provides an overview of behavioral health and crisis response systems, core components of each system, and the respective roles they play in being responsive to the behavioral health needs of individuals, families, and communities. The brief also discusses some of the barriers facing behavioral health and crisis response systems in Washington and an overview of anticipated efforts to address these barriers during the 2022 legislative session.
2021 POLICY BRIEFS
Budget Memo: November 2021 Revenue & Caseload Forecasts
These revenue forecasts look at the various revenue sources and the projected impact of economic factors such as unemployment,
sales, airline travel (for the ripple effect on Boeing), housing construction and sales, exports, etc. Looking at all of these factors, the ERFC builds a forecast for what the state’s estimated revenue will be and how much larger/smaller it is than the previous forecast.
Budget Memo: Fall 2021 Revenue Forecast
This memo provides an overview of the September 24th fall quarterly revenue forecast released by the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC).
Policy Brief: Access to Health Care - Progress in the 2021 Legislative Session
This policy brief provides a brief background on progress that has been made over the past decade in increasing access to health care, a summary of some of the remaining systemic barriers to accessing health care, and an overview of some of the key wins during the 2021 legislative session that will further improve access to health care.
Budget Memo: Social Determinants of Health in the 2021 Legislative Session
This brief provides background on the social determinants of health, how the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the inequities in these factors, highlights of key investments and policy changes made during the 2021 session, and some of the additional steps needed to maintain and grow the momentum of the progress made this year.
Budget Memo: Summer 2021 Revenue Forecast
This memo provides an overview of the the June 23rd forecast, which captures the improving revenue landscape in Washington as the economy continues to open up and consumer spending improves following the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Budget Memo: Final 2021-23 Operating Budget
This memo provides an overview of the budget and revenue landscape the legislature faced while developing the 2021-23 operating budget and a summary of funding levels in the final budget passed by the legislature, including highlights of prevention-related items that were funded.
Budget Memo: House Senate 2021-23 Operating Budget Proposals
The Senate and House both released their respective proposed 2021-23 operating budgets on March 25th and 26th respectively. This memo provides an overview of the different operating budget proposals as passed off the floor of each chamber.
Budget Memo: Spring 2021 Revenue Forecast
An overview of the spring quarterly revenue forecast released by the Economic and Revenue Council (ERFC). These revenue projections provide House and Senate budget writers with the revenue levels they have to work with as they draft their respective proposed operating budgets.
Access to Healthcare: Cascade Care 2.0
This policy brief provides background on progress that has been made over the past decade in increasing access to health care, an overview of some of the remaining systemic barriers to accessing health care, and a summary of the main components of the Cascade Care 2.0 legislation (Senate Bill 5377) that seeks to address affordability of plans purchased through the Health Benefit Exchange (Exchange).
Cascade Care 2.0: Increasing Affordability & Stability of Health Insurance
While Washington has made important strides to improve consistency and fairness in plan offerings, SB
5377 takes the next step by increasing affordability, stabilizing market offerings, and controlling costs. See the one-pager for more information.
A bill to protect Washington’s communities from climate change impacts: HB 1099
HB 1099 answers the need for a new, comprehensive climate solution to build more resilient communities, from flood protection to transit, clean water to wildfire prevention.
SB 5129: Tobacco Equity
Policy Change for Health Equity: Holding Commercial Tobacco Retailers Accountable Instead of Penalizing Youth for Addiction
Prevention Alliance Policy Brief: Affordable Housing and Homelessness
This policy brief provides a discussion of the importance of housing as a social determinant of health; an overview of state-level programs and services related to affordable housing and homelessness; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing and people experiencing homelessness; and an overview of anticipated efforts related to housing and homelessness during the 2021 legislative session.
Budget Memo: January 2021 Governor’s Budget Proposals
A summary of Governor Inslee’s proposed 2021-23 operating, transportation, and capital budgets on December 17th. The budget proposals focused on the key priority areas of COVID-19 response (which ranges from testing and contact tracing to food insecurity, broadband access, and housing), rebuilding the state’s economy, protecting vital services, and emphasizing equity.
2020 BUDGET MEMOS
Budget Memo: November 2020 Revenue Forecast
This memo provides an updated overview of the changing operating budget and revenue landscape in Washington, a summary of the new caseload forecast, and some context for potential options that lie ahead.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: September 2020 Revenue Forecast
An updated overview from the Prevention Alliance of the changing operating budget and revenue landscape in Washington and some context for potential options that lie ahead.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: COVID-19 Edition with Updated Final 2020 Supplemental Operating Budget & Unofficial Revenue Forecast
An overview from the Prevention Alliance that provides an updated overview of the changing budget and revenue landscape since the 2020 legislative session adjourned.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: Final 2020 Supplemental Operating Budget
An overview from the Prevention Alliance of the changing budget and revenue landscape in the final days of the 2020 legislative session and a summary of funding levels in the final supplemental budget passed by the legislature.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: June 2020 Revenue Forecast
An updated overview from the Prevention Alliance of the changing operating budget and revenue landscape in Washington, a summary of the caseload forecast, a breakdown of what is and isn’t protected in the state budget, and some context for potential options that lie ahead.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: March 2020 House & Senate Supplemental Operating Budget Proposals
An overview from the Prevention Alliance of the different supplemental operating budget proposals as passed off the floor of each chamber.
Prevention Alliance Budget Memo: February 2020 Revenue Forecast
A summary from the Prevention Alliance on the February 19th Revenue Forecast released by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.
2020 POLICY BRIEFS
Prevention Alliance Policy Brief: Early Childhood Education & Its Impact on Health Outcomes
This policy brief provides an overview of the importance of ECE as a social determinant of health; an overview of the early learning system in Washington; a discussion of barriers to quality, affordable ECE; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child care and how it has further exacerbated barriers; and an overview of the work being done in Washington to better support and improve the early learning system in Washington.
Prevention Alliance Policy Brief: Impacts of Initiative 976
A summary from the Prevention Alliance on the impacts of Initiative 976 - concerning motor vehicle taxes and fees.
Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance: Public Charge Information
The federal government has finalized a "public charge" rule that may impact immigrants' applications for visas, permanent residency or admission to the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the rule to be implemented and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will implement the new rule on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020.
2020 Advocacy Days
Learn about advocacy opportunities during the 2020 Washington State legislative session.
ARCHIVES
Cascade Care - WA Public Option & Standard Benefit Plans | July 2019
Substance Use & Abuse Prevention | July 2019
Addressing the Opioid Crisis in the 2018 Legislative Session
Health Care Access in the 2018 Legislative Session
Marijuana Prevention | June 2017
Social Emotional Learning | June 2017
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
PROJECT PARTNERS:
