When the session began, just about every state institution was on the chopping block. To save money, proposals emerged to close state prisons, juvenile rehabilitation administration (JRA) facilities, nursing homes and residential habilitation centers (RHCs). Here’s how it turned out:

PRISONS -- Between the findings of a consultant’s report last year and various legislative proposals this year, every prison in the state has been a target for closure or dramatic cuts: the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, McNeil Island prison, Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima County, Larch Correctional Center in Yacolt... you name it.

Unions representing Corrections workers -- including the Teamsters and the Washington Federation of State Employees -- rallied to support their members’ jobs and to preserve public safety, while legislators fought to save the facilities in their districts.

In the end, some of the more drastic closure proposals were jettisoned, but nearly $55 million was cut from the Department of Corrections, including the closure of the Pine Lodge Correctional Facility for Women in Medical Lake. At press time, controversy was erupting over this closure. The Spokesman-Review reports that an internal Department of Corrections memo said Pine Lodge will close, even though a consultant recommended keeping it open, so the state can open another more energy-efficient prison in Western Washington. Stay tuned.

JRA -- The final budget included the three-year phased closure of Maple Lane School, the juvenile rehabilitation facility in south Thurston County that employs more than 260 people. Some of those employees could be transferred -- along with the juveniles in detention -- to the Green Hill youth prison in Chehalis.

RHCs -- Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal included closure of the Rainier School in Buckley and the Frances Haddon Morgan Center in Bremerton, both institutions for developmentally disabled children and adults. Proposals also floated to close Fircrest School in Shoreline, Lakeland Village in Medical Lake and Yakima Valley School in Selah. The unions with employees at those facilities quickly mobilized to educate legislators about the critical services they provide to their clients and to their communities.

In the end, the RHCs were all spared, although the budget orders that a consultant be hired "to determine the optimum residential setting for (RHC) clients, including the option to remain in a residential habilitation center."