Monthly Archives: March 2011

Budget Committees Busy as Deadline Looms but No Budget

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This week the budget committees in the Washington Senate and House are busy.  On Friday (April 1) lawmakers must have moved bills from fiscal committees to the floor to keep the bills alive. The exception is any legislation that is necessary to implement the budget.

Both the Senate and House have held public hearings and executive sessions on bills that would impact higher education. Among these bills is legislation that would provide the option to four-year institutions of higher education to develop accelerated baccalaureate programs, a bill that expands academic flexibility to men and women in the National Guard, and legislation to include the Washington College Bound Program in the caseload forecast.

The Legislature will quickly turn to floor action in preparation for the next deadline on April 12. This marks the last day to take floor action on a bill that started in the opposite chamber. Most bills, with the exception of those necessary to implement the budget, will require some floor action prior to April 12.

As bills move forward, some of the most important bills – the budget bills – remain absent from the conversation. It has been nearly two weeks since the March revenue forecast which was nearly $700 million lower for the 2011-13 biennium and approximately $85 million lower in this current fiscal year.

New rumors on The Hill suggest that the House may release their operating budget on Monday (April 4) . While the Democrats and Republicans are trying to identify areas of agreement,  there is talk that the House Republicans may roll out an alternative to the House Democrat’s budget when it is released.

In the Senate the Democrats and Republicans are working together to write a budget. Both have indicated that the Senate will wait for the House to release its proposal before they release the Senate budgets.

On the capital budget funds will be tight. There is great competition for fewer dollars.  To boost capacity in the capital budget legislators are considering moving dedicated account funds into the general fund and there is some discussion of including property taxes in the base for capacity-counting purposes with other trade-offs to maintain the state’s bond rating.

A big issue with regard to the capital budget will be the fate of the bond bill. Democrats will need Republican votes to pass a bond bill which is required to authorize legislation to finance most of the capital budget through bond sales. A 60% vote is needed to pass the bill.

The capital budget is expected to follow the release of the operating budget in both chambers.

Another Major Legislative Deadline Passes; Still Waiting for Operating and Capital Budgets

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The House and Senate kept a steady pace all day Friday to meet the March 25 deadline to pass policy bills from the opposite chamber to either a budget committee or the floor.  

The Evergreen State College is continuing to track approximately 100 bills, these bills and others can be found at the Legislature’s website.

Several bills that would impact higher education are moving through the process including legislation that would require forecast caseloads for the State Need Grant and the Washington College Bound Scholarship Program, expand academic flexibility to national guardsmen/women, and provide some flexibity for higher education with regard to purchasing.

As policy committees wrapped up business Friday, attention shifts to the budgets and to floor action. The next deadline is this Friday (April 1) when each chamber must take action on bills with fiscal impacts.

This is followed by an April 12 deadline which is the last day to take floor action on a bill that started in the opposite chamber. Most bills, with the exception of those necessary to implement the budget, will need to have some floor action prior to April 12.

The bills that passed the April 12 deadline will then move back to their original chamber if they were changed in the opposite chamber.  The original chamber must either concur with any changes or dispute changes.  For the bills that cannot be reconciled through this process a conference committee will be established to address the differences between the two chambers and try to find some compromise.

A conference committee is expected on the budget bills but may be needed on some policy bills.  A conference committee consists of two House and Senate members from the majority party and one House and Senate member from the minority party. Once the conferees agree on what is in the conference bill the only action in either chamber is a yes or no vote. No further amendments are allowed.

The largest task remaining is passage of the operating, capital and transportation two-year budgets. The biennial transportation budget passed the House last week. 

It is anticipated that the House will release its biennial operating budget as soon as this Tuesday (March 29) with the capital budget to follow. The budgets will move through the process quickly with public hearings and an executive session taking place this week in preparation for a floor vote on Saturday (April 2).

The Senate will follow the release of the House’s version of the budgets. However it is unclear whether the Senate will wait for the budget bill to come to the Senate from the House or release its own budget. Many believe it will depend on how soon the House acts.

April 24 marks the end of the regular session this year. The Governor then has 20 days frm the date the Legislature declares “sine die” to sign a bill, veto a section(s)  or veto a bill entirely. The exception is with budget bills where the Governor has line-item veto authority.  A bill that is not signed will go into effect ninety days after the last day of session or on a date specified in the legislation.

If the session ends and budget bills are not finalized, the Governor can call the Legislature back into session. The Governor may also call for a special session for non-budget topics, but once a special session is called the Governor cannot limit the issues, and the special session can run up to thirty days.

How long the regular session will go depends on how close the House and Senate budget proposals are. The further the budgets are apart the more difficult it will be to reach an agreement and meet the April 24 deadline.

2011 Legislative Session: Week 12

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This week the focus will be on the Senate and House budget committees and some floor action.

Last Friday marked the passage of another major deadline, requiring all policy bills from the opposite chamber  be moved either to an appropriations committee.

The Legislature must move all bills from the appropriations committee to the floor by the end of this week (April 1).

To this end this week will be filled with a mix of public hearings and executive sessions to move bills forward as the deadline looms. Please see the links below for a list of all the hearings that might be of interest.

Several Bills That Would Impact Higher Education Considered This Week

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Tomorrow marks the passage of another major deadline in the Legislature. All bills, from the opposite chamber, must have moved out of policy committees either to an appropriation committee or the floor by the end of day.

The last two weeks have been a rush of activity as the House and Senate consider what bills to move forward through the process.

Several bills have been considered that will impact higher education. Legislators have heard public comment on bills ranging from mentoring programs at higher education institutions to efforts to provide great flexibility for higher education with regard to purchasing and contracts.

A handful of these bills are moving forward in the process and the fate of several more will be know after 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. Among the bills that have passed tomorrow’s deadline is legislation that would ease the transfer of advanced placement credits and other pre-college credits from high school to college and a bill that would restructure Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program.

Local Panel Discussion on Higher Education and the Budget

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Last week, The College Promise Coalition held a panel discussion at the Thurston Community Television (TCTV) station regarding higher education and the budget.   

Panel members included the following community leaders who spoke to the effects of budget cuts on higher education:

  • Cort Campbell, Associated Student Body, Senator For Legislative Affairs, Student Government, South Puget Sound Community College
  • Angela Shirley, Student Government, Senator of Commuters, Saint Martin’s University
  • Uriel Iniguez, Executive Director from the Commission on Hispanic Affairs
  • Gerald Pumphrey, President, South Puget Sound Community College
  • Les Purce, President, The Evergreen State College
  • George Le Masurier, Publisher, The Olympian (moderator)  

The Evergreen State College, Saint Martin’s University, and South Puget Sound Community College partnered with the College Promise Coalition to bring the event to Olympia.

The broad cast of the event is availabe on demand  (Select “Keeping our Promise” in both the drop down menus).

In addition the program will be broadcasted as follows:

  •  Friday 3/25/2011, 7:00 PM, Channel 77
  • Sunday 3/27/2011, 2:00 PM, Channel 77
  • Tuesday 3/29/2011, 8:30 PM, Channel 77
  • Monday 4/4/2011, 9:00 PM, Channel 77
  • Tuesday 4/12/2011, 3:00 PM, Channel 77
  • Friday 4/15/2011, 5:30 PM, Channel 77
  • Sunday 4/17/2011, 2:30 PM, Channel 77
  • Wednesday 4/20/2011, 9:30 PM, Channel 77

Similar events have taken place throughout Washington in recent weeks.   Please visit http://www.collegepromisewa.com/ to learn more about the College Promise Coalition.

Obama Administration Announces College Completion Effort

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Yesterday Vice President Biden announced a new grant competition focused on assisting institutions of higher education increase completion rates. 

The grant, and subsequent request to Governors to host a state college completion summit, are efforts by the Obama Administration to increase college graduation rates across the nation to meet the President’s goal to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.

To kick-off this effort the Administration released a comprehensive college completion tool kit which includes suggested policies to help states boost college graduation rates.  The tool kit includes seven no-cost or low-cost strategies that states can use, fifteen related action steps, and several existing federal resource streams from which to draw.

Among the strategies in the tool kit is the alignment of high school exit and college placement standards and re-engaging adults with some college experience but no degree.

The Administration is also making a number of financial resources available to states to implement plans to increase college completion rates.

  • U.S. Department of Education: Accepting applications for the 2011 Comprehensive Grant program – $20 million to colleges to implement plans that can increase success and improve productivity in postsecondary schools.
  • Administration’s 2012 Budget: The First in the World initiative, which in its initial year would provide $123 million in competitive funds, to support programs that embrace innovative practices to accelerate learning, boost completion rates and hold down tuition.
  • Administration’s 2012 Budget: College Completion Incentive Grants, which would give a total of $50 million in awards to reward states and institutions for undertaking reforms that produce more college graduates.

Congress will have to approve spending for these programs before they can be implemented.

House Committees Focus on the Future

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This afternoon higher education took part in a collaborative discussion in the House Community Development and Housing Committee focused on increasing productivity, jobs, and prosperity.

Rep. Phyllis Kenney – chair of the committee –  hosted a conversation with representatives from the business, environmental, labor, and education communities, including the Council of Presidents, with the goal of identifying what actions can take place to move Washington’s economy forward using data and results-driven conversations.

The conversation focused on four major questions:

  • How do Washington’s changing demographics impact how we do business (in education, workforce development, and economic development)?
  • How doe we enhance public-private partnerships that generate business activity, facilitate private investment, and increase jobs?
  • What are the key strategies for creating prosperity and economic recovery for all of Washington’s residents?
  • Given current budget constraints, what strategies and investments of the state will lead to the highest return on investment?

The conversation was contexted by presentations from the Office of Financial Management, Employment Securities Department, and the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board regarding changing demographics, employment, and education and training in Washington.

Also focused on the future was the House Higher Education Committee. This afternoon the Committee spent considerable time on Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program. The GET Program allows purchasers to buy tuition units at current prices for use at a later date.

The Committee heard presentations from the Higher Education Coordinating Board,  Office of the State Actuary, and Office of the State Treasurer.

The Legislature often reviews the GET program and the policies that underscore the program. This session, however, the GET program has been incorporated into a couple of bills, placing the program under a new light. 

Senate Bill 5749 would make changes to the membership of the Committee on Advanced Tuition that oversees the program and to a handful of policies that currently structure the program. The Committee held a public hearing on SB 5749 this afternoon.

The GET program is also identified as part of House Bill 1795 which would require an actuarial analysis by the state actuary for the Guaranteed Education Tuition Program.

Legislative Session 2011: Week 11

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The release of the March forecast this week opens the door for the release of proposed biennial budgets next week. The House will release their biennial budgets first this session.

While both the biennial transportation budget and the capital budget (March 23) have been scheduled for a public hearing and executive session, no actions have been scheduled to date for the operating budget. 

The budget will be the center of focus next week, both in terms of the biennial budget and the move from policy committees to fiscal committees.

All policy bills from the opposite chamber must be moved either to an appropriations committee or the floor by the end of Friday, March 25 (one week from today).  The Legislature will then have a week to move all bills from the appropriations committee to the floor. Bills with a fiscal impact must be moved to the floor by the end of Friday, April 1.

To this end this week will be filled with a mix of public hearings and executive sessions to move bills forward as the deadline looms. Please see the links below for a list of all the hearings that might be of interest.