By Greg McCorkle

An estimated 3,000 people from all over the state of Washington converged on the capitol building yesterday to voice their opinion over proposed cuts to education, social, and health services. Many unions, such as the WEA and SCIU, bused in representatives from as far away as Spokane. Throughout the day people spoke of the need to increase spending for health and education and that any further cuts would drastically effect Washingtonians who already have been hit the hardest. The main thrust of the day was over cuts to health care for the disabled.

West Seattle resident Eric Matthes Coordinator of Advocacy for The Arc of King County has come to Olympia to voice his displeasure over cuts to health care funding, “Because I know it’s important for everyone…people with disabilities want to make enough noise here in Olympia so our governor and our state actually hears what we’re concerned about.”

Kyle Matheson of Ballard said, “I’m actually here because of the fact that people with developmental disabilities [are also] at stake and because of the fact…that we’ve all grown up, grown through the ages of stigma. Because of that fact…as you well know…when you grow up and people are saying to people with disabilities for years have been saying “where would you rather be? In the community or stuck in an RAC (Rural Assistance Center)?” And a lot of people are saying “No. We don’t want to be stuck in an RAC. We want to be part of the community…we are people, we have equal rights…and that’s one of the biggest things, we don’t want our lifelines cut…because…where do we want to be? We have equal rights to be what we want to be…we are all people and people come first…no matter what if you have a disability or don’t have a disability, because there’s a lot of things…we have a lot of services coming our way…to say “hey, if you want to cut our services you had better watch out…because you have a lot of angry people that don’t want to see that done…’cuz otherwise… Medicare, Medicaid, all these different services mean a lot to people with disabilities. And if you cut it off you’re going to see a lot more people on the streets and you don’t want to see that”.

Nora Gibson of West Seattle - “I’m a major advocate for increasing revenue and avoiding these horrendous cuts. I run a non-profit agency that…if these cuts go through will be decimated and possibly have to close down. My mother now has Alzheimer’s and lives in West Seattle, she uses an adult day program over in Columbia City three days a week, and if that goes away I don’t think my dad’s going to be able to take of her much longer. So we have to stop it. We already took some big cuts this past October for adults with developmental disabilities and these services are so vitally important…and I know it personally not just from the provider perspective but because my mother now needs this kind of care. We just have to do the right thing. We can’t keep taking more cuts to services”.

Many in attendance called for the end of Washington’s sales tax in favor of an income tax citing the disproportionate burden the sales tax puts on low income families. Others stayed the course with the Occupy Movement wanting an end to corporate bailouts, more jobs, and political finance reform.

Late in the afternoon students from Evergreen College and various community colleges arrived with Occupy groups from Tacoma, Olympia, and Seattle to share their concern about the direction the state and the nation as a whole. Youthful exuberance led them to the capitol steps where they demanded entry to the capitol building per their right as citizens. At first the WSP blocked all entry, but after some negotiations with occupiers and a promise to be lawful the WSP stepped aside and the occupation of the capitol began. The mood was almost joyous punctuated by the presence of the large decorated Christmas tree in the rotunda. Occupiers immediately began decorating the balconies with signs of protest. The situation became tense when too many people wanted to gain access to the legislative gallery. The WSP had to block entry to the galleries which caused some tension but that was short lived. While inside the protesters shouted concerns to two legislators that were on the floor at the time. The representatives sat quietly and listened, after a short time they were given an opportunity to speak and voiced their concern over the same issues being brought to their attention and promised to do all they could in rectifying the problems voiced by the protesters.

The orating continued outside for the rest for the afternoon and ended with a candle light vigil by The Arc of King County at 5:30 pm. That’s when things began heating up. Protesters numbering around one hundred refused to leave the building and threatened a sit in. WSP immediately locked down the Capitol Building and began negotiations for a peaceful exit. By around 7 p.m. a majority of the occupiers had exited on their own leaving a small but very committed group still inside. WSP then began an eviction process that was more sideshow than combative with protesters allowing themselves to be picked up and taken out a side door. A few however put up a fight and were immediately arrested and put in a waiting bus to be taken to jail. When word of the arrested got out a large contingent of protesters surrounded the bus to block its exit. The WSP began clearing a path for the bus to leave by physically pushing people away. A few people received scrapes and bruises from being pushed to the ground and there were reports of some being tasered although this reporter did not witness that. One young woman fell victim to what medics reported as an asthma attack and was taken away in an aid car. There are no reports of her condition at the time this article was written.

More protests at the capitol are scheduled through the rest of the week. If you want to know more about what’s happening at the capitol go to http://www.occupyolympia.org