Monthly Archives: July 2010

Committee to Transfrom Budget Holds Last Public Hearing

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Last night the Governor and members of the recently formed Committee on Transforming Washington’s  Budget held the last of four public hearings in Spokane.

The hearings mimicked many of the same messages that the Governor and committee members have heard over the last month in Tacoma, Everett, and Vancouver– spare services and reduce taxes.

Among the requests from the 43 people who testified: Don’t cut money that pays to educate our youth; Don’t cut jobs of parole officers who keep an eye on violent offenders; and Don’t cut money that keeps the elderly in their own homes.

Though the statewide hearings are over, the Governor and the Committee are still collecting input through the website launched to gather thoughts regarding what government should and should not fund.

U.S. Senate Committee Passes Education Spending Bill

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Yesterday the full U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $169.6 billion appropriations bill for FY11 funding for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

The bill as passed by the Senate Committee maintains a level discretionary funding base for the Federal Pell Grant program of $4,860. This amount combined with a mandatory add-on from the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act provides a maximum award of $5,550 in the 2011-12 year.

The bill passed out of Committee, however, did not include the $5.7 billion to fill an estimated Pell Grant shortfall in the 2011-12 year.  Senate Democrats on the committee stated that addressing the shortfall will have to wait until the bill is either considered by the full Senate or during conference committee with the House.

In addition, the bill maintains level funding for the majority of other student aid programs. This includes Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Federal Work-Study, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships.

Finally, funding for TRIO would increase by $15 million and Perkins cancellations would receive no funding.

The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

Statewide Budget Hearings Conclude in Spokane

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Over the last two weeks the Governor and members of the Committee on Transforming Washington’s Budget have held three public hearings on the 2011-13 biennial budget with a fourth and final hearing to be completed this evening in Spokane.

In early July, the Governor and the Task Force traveled to Tacoma to listen to concerns and ideas regarding the 2011-13 biennial budget.

Last week the Governor held the second of four public hearings in Everett. Approximately 400 people showed up at Everett Community College to listen to the fiscal context facing Washington and share their ideas for reducing the state budget.

Nearly 50 people shared their views with the Governor and committee members. Ideas included reducing state employee salaries, selling off the state ferry system, and privatizing port districts. Others argued for funding for a variety of public services and the impact of failing to do so.

Advocacy for public services and programs dominated the third of four public hearings in Vancouver. Approximately 400 people arrived at the WSU-Vancouver campus to hear about the budget and share their ideas.

Special Session Decision Expected Early August

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Today Governor Gregoire announced she will decide whether or not to call a special session or make across-the-board cuts in early August.

A special session or across-the-board cuts would be required to reduce the $300 million budget shortfall if federal aid for Medicaid dollars falls through.

Not a fan of the across-the-board cuts, Governor Gregoire estimates that the cuts would reduce all state-funded programs by an additional 3.5-4.0 percent. The only exceptions to the reduction would be basic education, debt payments, and pensions.

Compromise Veterans’ Education Bill to be Introduced

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Late this week, a compromise veterans’ education bill is expected to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Rep. Minnick (D-ID), the bill is an agreement between major veterans’ service organizations and the Veterans Affairs Department on ways to fix, improve or otherwise modify the benefits program that was launched in August 2009.

The changes proposed in the bill would not take effect until 2011.

  • Tuition and fee calculations will be simplified so that Veterans Affairs will pay full tuition and full fees for any eligible veteran who is a full-time student at a public college or university. Tuition and fees at private institutions would be capped at $20,000 a year per student.
  • Active-duty service members and spouses of active-duty members using transferred benefits would become eligible for the $1,000 book allowance that already goes to other student veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
  • Living stipends would be available to people taking distance learning classes without the current requirement that they must take at least one classroom course to qualify.
  • Service members transferring GI Bill benefits to a spouse or children would include the right to transfer any so-called “kickers” that increase payments so that family members could use the money.
  • For National Guard and reserve members, the bill gives credit for full-time active service in the Active Guard and Reserve program and time mobilized for natural disasters toward earning benefits, service that currently does not count.
  • On-the-job training and apprenticeships programs could be covered .

Many of the provisions in the compromise bill are similar to provisions in S. 3447.  Senate Bill 3447 is being refined and is expected to be brought to a vote in the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in early August.

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which will receive the compromise bill, has scheduled a hearing on veterans’ education benefits on September 16.

Governor Announces Higher Education Task Force

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Today, Governor Gregoire announced the formation of a Higher Education Task Force. Evergreen’s President, Les Purce, will serve as a representative for the four-year Council of Presidents.

The goal of the Task  Force is to create a sustainable funding model and develop strategies that increase accountability to ensure taxpayers get the best value for the state’s and student’s investment at our four-year universities.

Gregoire asked the task force to focus on three tasks:

  • Develop a realistic and viable long-range funding strategy that provides Washington’s students with affordable higher education opportunities.
  • Recommend ways to improve accountability and performance in our public four-year higher education institutions to ensure we get the very highest value for the state’s and student’s investment.
  • Consider whether the higher education system’s current governance model should be modified to improve system-wide performance and accountability.

The task force will be chaired by Brad Smith, general counsel and senior vice president of Legal and Corporate Affairs at Microsoft. 

Members of the governor’s Higher Education Funding Task Force are:

 Brad Smith, Chair, Senior VP and General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation
Judith Runstad, Foster Pepper LLC
Charlie Earl, Director, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Jesus Hernandez, Chair, Higher Education Coordinating Board
Thomas L. “Les” Purce, President, Evergreen State College
Pat Shanahan, Vice President & General Manager, Airplane Programs, Boeing Company
David Tang, Managing Partner, K&L Gates LLP
Paula Reynolds, CEO, Preferwest LLC
Dean Allen, CEO, McKinstry Company
Bill Ayer, Chair and CEO, Alaska Air
Michael Kluse, Senior VP, Battelle
Maud Daudon, President & CEO, Seattle Northwest Securities
Chris Rivera, President, Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association
Ray Stephanson, Mayor of Everett
Paul Rosier, Executive Director, Washington Association of School Administrators
Alex McGregor, President & CEO, The McGregor Company

The Higher Education Funding Task Force will meet several times this summer and make recommendations to Gregoire in the fall, with proposals to eventually be incorporated into her 2011 legislative agenda.

U.S. Senate Committee Takes Action on FY11 Appropriations Bill

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Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Humans Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved a $169.6 billion FY11 appropriations bill. 

The bill would seek to maintain a level appropriated base for the Federal Pell Grant program of $4,860. That amount, combined with a mandatory add-on from the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), would provide a maximum Pell Grant of $5,550 in the 2011-12 year. However, the Senate appropriation markup did not include $5.7 billion to plug an estimated Pell Grant shortfall in the 2011-12 year. The House version did include the $5.7 billion.

In addition to Pell appropriations, the spending bill would maintain level funding for the majority of the other student aid programs. The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) program, the Federal Work-Study (FWS), program, and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships (LEAP) program in fiscal year (FY) 2011 would all be level funded under the appropriations bill. TRIO would be increased by $15 million under the bill and Perkins cancellations would receive no funding.

The full appropriations committee is expected to take up the bill this Thursday.

Race To The Top Finalists Named…Washington Not One of Them

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This afternoon the Obama Administration named eighteen states and the District of Columbia as finalists for Race to the Top dollars. Washington was not a finalist.

Of the 36 states that competed for the dollars, the following states and the District of Columbia were named finalists: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinios, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Finalists will make formal, in-person presentations before a judging panel in August. Winners will be named in September.

The U.S. Education Department used a panel of outside judges to score each applicatioon based on 19 criteria, including willingness to open charter schools, efforts to link teacher evaluations to student achievement and dedication to transforming the lowest-performing schools.

During the 2010 supplemental session Washington developed and passed legislation to put into place the necessary structures and policies to support the state’s Race to the Top application. Washington’s application requested $250 million to support these efforts through Race to the Top dollars.

Governor Hints at Special Session

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Late this week Governor Gregoire suggested that she would consider a special session if the federal Medicaid matching dollars do not come to the state by August 9.

Speaking to KOMO radio she shared that she would consider a special session and will consult with legislative leaders to limit a session to a day or two.

This comes at a time when Washington faces a projected shortfall of $3 billion in the 2011-13 budget cycle and a slow economic recovery that is forcing fundamental changes in state operations.

Speculation suggests that a special session could take place as soon as September.

U.S. Drops Lead in Young College Graduates

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The United States has fallen from 1st place to 12th place in the share of adults ages 25-34 with postsecondary degrees.

According to a recent report released by The College Board, Canada is now the global leader in higher education among young adults, with 55.8 percent of that population holding an associate degree or beyond as of 2007, the year of the latest international ranking.

Though the United States’ ranking improves when older adults are added to the equation among all nations – he U.S. ranks 6th – the report focuses on younger college students because there is great concern that this will be the first generation in the modern era that will be less well-educated than their parents.

In response the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions, and Success in Higher Education and the National Confernce of State Legislatures has  produced a pratical 10-part  action agenda to increase the number of Americans who attain a postsecondary degree and empower  legislators to be an even more positive and active force.

The 10-part action agenda calls for policymakers to undertake the following recommendations which are considered investments that might raise college completion rates.

  • Provide a program of voluntary preschool education, universally available to children from low-income families
  • Improve middle and high school college and career counseling
  • Implement the best research-based dropout prevention programs
  • Align the K-12 education system with international standards and college admission expectations
  • Improve teacher quality and focus on recruitment and retention
  • Clarify and simplify the admission process
  • Provide more need-based grant aid while simplifying and making financial aid processes more transparent
  • Keep college affordable
  • Dramatically increase college completion rates
  • Provide postsecondary opportunities as an essential element of adult education programs.