While much of Olympia was quiet and covered in snow, the Capitol was busy hearing and moving bills through the process. Both the Senate and House Ways & Means Committees held marathon public hearings and executive sessions as Friday’s deadline looms.

Senate Ways & Means

The Senate Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on two bills of particular interest to higher education – Senate Bill 5136 and Senate Bill 5182.

Senate Bill 5136 provides provisions of the state’s intent to partner with the Washington Governors University (WGU)  to establish Western Governors University-Washington and provide enhanced access to postsecondary education for all Washington students.  The Evergreen State College testified, on behalf of the Council of Presidents, with concerns with regard to the potential impact to state financial aid programs but took no position on the bill.

Senate Bill 5182 eliminates the Higher Education Coordinating Board and creates the Council forPerformance and Accountability in Higher Education. The purpose of the Council is to develop performance-based measures and goals for each state university, regional university, and the state college, linked to the role, mission, and strategic plan of the institution of higher education including (a) indicators and goals that measure outcomes concerning cost, quality, and timeliness of student progress toward degrees and certifications; (b) benchmarks and goals for long-term degree production, including discrete benchmarks and goals in particular fields of study; (c) the level of resources necessary to meet the performance outcomes, benchmarks, and goals, subject to legislative appropriation; (d) indicators and goals that measure outcomes concerning recruitment, retention, and success of students from diverse, underrepresented communities; and (e) a system of consequences for exceeding or for failing to achieve the goals or benchmarks.

The Evergreen State College testified in support of the bill and on behalf of the Council of Presidents. Evergreen stated that state government reform, including reform of higher education, is an important issue this session and SB 5182 offers an effective and efficient structure for higher education that is worth further consideration. 

House Ways & Means

The House Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on three bills of interest to higher education.

House Bill 1666 would implement the recommendations from the Governor’s Higher Education Task Force. The legislation heard by the Committee this afternoon introduced substitute language to change the bill passed out of House Higher Education last week.

The second substitute would make the following changes and remove all other sections:

• Add intent language that recognized the work of the Governor’s HigherEducation Task Force, the need to build on those recommendations, andthe need for the state’s citizens to achieve much higher levels of educational attainment
• Require the Higher Education Coordinating Board in collaboration with a broad range of higher education stakeholders to review state achievement goals and capacity to meet those goals, including a consideration of socioeconomic status, and provide a preliminary assessment to the Legislature by August 15, 2011.
• Make technical changes to the existing language regarding the Washington pledge endowment fund to accrue its own interest
• Retain  degree targets and higher education institution action plans to achieve those targets

House Bill 1795 would establish the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The legislation heard by the Committee this afternoon introduced substitute language to change the bill passed out of House Higher Education last week.

The second substitute would make the following changes and remove all other sections:

• Adds a requirement that beginning in the 2015-16 academic year, reductions or  
• Clarifies that tuition setting authority is for four years, beginning in the 2011 academic year through the end of the 2014 academic year
• Adds a requirement that beginning in the 2015-16 academic year, reductions or increases in tuition must be provided in the appropriations act when responsibility for setting tuition setting reverts to the Legislature.
• Adds transfer provisions in addition to requiring higher education institutions to publish transferrable courses on their websites: 1) requiring that students who have earned direct transfer agreements associate degrees have junior standing at the receiving four-year higher education institution; and 2) requiring that institutions of higher education develop a one year certificate of general education requirements that is transferrable to any other public higher education institution.  

House Bill 1981 would alter existing retire/rehire policies for higher education institutions. In particular the bill would eliminate Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) Plan 1 provisions permitting retirees to receive benefits while employed in retirement system-covered positions for up to 1,500 hours per year.

In addition the bill would add positions covered by a Higher Education Retirement Plan (HERP) to those included in the postretirement employment pension restrictions for PERS, TRS, the School Employees’ Retirement System, and the Public Safety Employees’ Retirement System.

Finally the bill would imit the employees to which state institutions of higher education may offer the HERP, instead of PERS Plans 2 or 3, to faculty and senior academic administrator employees; eliminate the HERP Supplemental Benefit for employees that enter the plan July 1, 2011, and provides the new employees the option of joining the TRS Plan 3 or PERS Plan 3;  require higher education institutions responsible for payment of HERP Supplemental Benefits to contract with and provide data to the Office of the State Actuary for periodic actuarial valuations and experience studies of the HERP plans; and limit state funding for the HERP plans to 6 percent of salary.