Monthly Archives: March 2010

Tuesday on The Hill

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Though today was set to be a long way, both chambers adjourned earlier than expected after passing a handful of bills.

The House did not take action on the operating or capital budget. However, the House did pass three bills of interest to Evergreen.

Senate Bill 6355 passed with a vote of 96-0. SB 6355, a.ka. the system design bill,  implements the recommendations put forth by the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s (HECB) System Design Plan work during the interim.  The bill identifies a process for expanding the higher education system upon proven demand and for reaching the goals in the HECB’s Master Plan.

The bill passed with several amendments adopted to the bill.

  • Alters the current capital prioritization process for four-year, public baccalaureate institutions to require the Office of Financial Management to convene a group to rank higher education projects in single list by priority order.
  • Requires the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) to consider the strategic and operational use of technology in higher education as part of the process of developing the state needs assessment and provides the HECB with additional direction in awarding grants from the Washington Fund for Innovation regarding improving the use of technology.
  • Restores provisions in current law that require the HECB to give strong priority to proposals made through the Washington Fund for Innovation that involve more than one sector of education.
  • Clarifies that review of major expansion is limited to proposed capital investment in entirely new institutions, campuses, branches, or centers as well as conversion of existing campuses, branches, or centers that results in a mission change.

Senate Bill 6355 now goes back to the Senate for concurrence.

Senate Bill 6357 passed the House with a vote of 97-0. SB 6357 tasks the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), in consultation with numerous other persons and entities, with developing policies for awarding academic credit for learning from work and military experience, military and law enforcement training, career college training, internships and externships, and apprenticeships.

The bill now goes to the Governor for her signature.

Senate Bill 5543 passed the House with a vote of 71-27. SB 5543 was completely amended with new language put forth by the House Environmental Health Committee.

The new language requires every producer of mercury-containing lights (lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other devices containing mercury and providing illumination) sold in or into Washington for residential use to fully finance and participate in a product stewardship program; financing includes the Department of Ecology’s (Department) costs for administering and enforcing the program.  In addition the language requires:

  • All product stewardship programs must be approved and contracted by the Department but the product stewardship program is operated by a product stewardship organization.
  • Producers may participate in Department-approved independent plans that are individually or jointly financed and operated with other producers.
  • The product stewardship programs must be fully implemented by January 1, 2013.

Senate Bill 5543 now goes to the Senate for concurrence.

House Looks to Move Operating and Capital Budgets; Revenue Passes House Committee

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Overnight the focus of the Washington Legislature has moved from committees to the floor.

The House is expected to take up the operating budget and the capital budget today.

Though the House passed their proposed 2010 supplemental operating budget from committee to the floor late last week (HB 2824), it is the Senate’s proposed budget that will likely be the version voted on in the House.

The House has prepared a bill to strike the language from the Senate’s proposed 2010 operating budget (SB 6444) and include the House’s proposed operating budget language. As a result the House will effectively pass their proposed operating budget using SB 6444 as the vehicle.

This will force the bill to go to conference between the Senate and the House because it is unlikely that the Senate will agree to the changes the House will make on the floor when it votes on SB 6444.

The House will vote on its proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget as soon as today (HB 2836) . The Senate has yet to release a proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget.

Finally, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing and moved the House’s revenue package (HB 3191) out of committee and to the House floor.

More Bills Move Forward in Process

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Another legislative deadline passed today. Fiscal committees in each chamber must have moved legislation from the opposite chamber out of committee and to the floor.

The remainder of session will focus on floor action in each chamber as bills are moved either to the other chamber for concurrence or to the Governor for her signature.

Since Friday a handful of bills of interest to Evergreen have passed both chambers and are now headed to the Governor for her signature – Senate Bills 5041, 6467, and 6367.

House Bill 5041 creates a statewide program to increase state procurement contracts with veteran-owned businesses. The bill encourages encouraged to state agencies to award 3 percent of all procurement contracts under $35,000 to veteran-owned businesses. The bill passed the House with a vote of 94-0.

Senate Bill 6467 allows the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Western Washington University, Eastern Washington University, or community and technical colleges in existence in 1942 to confer honorary degrees upon persons who were students at those institutions in 1942, but did not graduate because they were ordered into an internment camp. An honorary degree may also berequested by relatives for deceased qualified persons. The bill passed the House with a vote of 96-0.

Senate Bill 6367 allows state agencies to provide an Internet address and link on the agency’s website to a specific record request in addition to providing a record in response to a public records request. If the requester informs the agency that he or she cannot access records through the Internet, the agency must provide hard copies or allow the requester to view copies on the agency computer.  The bill passed the House with a vote of 96-0.

Two bills of interest to Evergreen – SB 5295 and HB 2519 – passed their respective chambers and now are awaiting for the other chamber to concur with changes made to the bills.

Senate Bill 5295 addresses unanimous recommendations from the Public Records Exemption Accountability Committee.

House Bill 2519  among other changes the bill requires state institutions of higher education to waive all tuition, service fees and activity fees for children and spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and Washington State Patrol Officers, that die or become totally disabled in theline of duty while employed by any public law enforcement agency or full-time or volunteer fire department in Washington. 

House Releases Revenue Package

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This afternoon the House released their proposed 2010 supplemental revenue package.

The House’s revenue package generates $758 million in new revenue for the remainder of the 2009-11 biennium and anticipates another $100 million to be generated from anticipated budget actions this session.

The House’s package resembles both the Governor and Senate’s proposed package. All three include closing tax loophooles and increases in sin taxes and both the House and Senate include savings from legislation to be enacted this session.

The largest difference among the revenue packages proposed is either the presence or absence of a sales tax. The Senate revenue package is the only one that includes a temporary increase in the sales tax.

Highlights of the House’s revenue package are below.

Highlights of Revenue Package

  • Narrows or eliminates numerous current tax preferences or “tax loopholes” ($385.31 million).
  • Removes sales tax exemptions for bottled water, elective cosmetic surgery, candy & gum, custom software, and janitorial services ($163.2million).
  • The cigarette tax is increased by $1 per package and taxes on other tobacco products are equalized ($111.6 million)
  • Increases taxes by 0.5% on lawyers, accountants, agends, marketing and management consultants ($21.7 million).
  • Repeals exemptions on investment earlings for nonfinancial firms ($58 million).
  • Implements savings from the Convention Center Tax Recovery (HB 3027) ($10.1 million)
  • Limits exemption to the wind M&E ($7.8 million)
  • Restores the PUD privilege tax to original legislative intent ($1.2 million).
  • Implements SB 6409 ($30 million)
  • Transfers funds from the captal budget ($70 million).

Details on the House’s proposed revenue package can be found on the House Democratic Caucus website.  

A public hearing on the revenue package (HB 3191) is scheduled for tomorrow, March 2, at 9:00 a.m. before the House Finance Committee.