This article was first published by TVW.
Washington’s largest state agency is preparing for a difficult 2027 budget by pursuing two strategies at once: pulling back where it can while trying to modernize how it delivers services.
In an interview on TVW’s “Inside Olympia,” Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Angela Ramirez told host Austin Jenkins the retrenchment could include leaving vacant positions unfilled, consolidating systems, renegotiating contracts and narrowing eligibility for some programs. She said DSHS has already identified about $5 million in savings, including roughly $1 million annually from changing a telecommunications vendor, in a biennial budget that totals $26 billion…