Monthly Archives: January 2013

2013 Legislative Session Kicks-Off

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Today the Washington Legislature convened the 2013 legislative session. The session will focus on several large issues including the budget, K-12 funding, and healthcare. The session starts with a new governor and a Senate led by 23 Republicans and two Democrats.

This Week

This week will focus on organization of the Legislature, work sessions, and some bill hearings. Both the House and Senate will likely spend a good deal of time over the next few weeks in learning mode. 

Here is a snapshot of the week ahead as it relates to higher education:

January 15

  • 8 a.m. – House Higher Education Committee, which will hear about the newly formed Washington Student Achievement Council (which replaced the Higher Education Coordinating Board).
  • 11:30 a.m.- Gov. Gregoire will deliver her final State of the State Address to a joint session of the House and Senate.
  • 3:30 p.m. – House Appropriations. Public hearing on Gov. Gregoire’s operating budget proposals focused on K-12 and higher education.

January 16

  • Noon – Governor Inslee’s Inaugural Address will begin; look for a Republican response to immediately follow.
  • 1:30 p.m. – House Higher Education will hold a work session on the Higher Education Policy Priorities for 2013 of the Council of Presidents and the public, baccalaureate institutions.
  • 3:30 p.m.- Senate Ways & Means Committee will discuss the state’s operating and capital budgets.

January 17

  • 9:00 a.m. – House Education will get an update on the K-12 Student Longitudinal Data System and hear from the Education Research and Data Center on current projects.
  • 10:00 a.m. – House Higher Education hold a work session on the higher education priorities of stakeholders for the 2013 session

Legislature

Today the House and Senate will formally organize the leaders for each chamber and swear in new members.

All eyes will be on the Senate Monday when it convenes at noon for what is expected to be a historic moment . Senate “rules” state that the party with the most seats is the majority; with the power shifting to Republicans, look for procedural floor motions to name Tom as majority leader and Sheldon as President Pro Tem, cementing the new Majority Coalition.

On the first day of session, typical business is to officially approve committee chairs, ranking members and committee membership, committee schedules, cutoff dates, and other operating procedures. This year’s opening events may also see the election of six (or more) committee chairs and vice chairs led by Republicans. It is also possible there may be votes for committees to be led by Democrats or co-chaired between the two parties.

In the House, the Democrats have a clear majority (55-43). Not unlike the Senate, the House will experience the addition of several new members to the chamber. In the House 20 new members have joined the chamber (9 Democrats and 11 Republicans).

Seattle-based Frank Chopp is expected to continue as Speaker of the House. In addition, Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) will lead the House Higher Education Committee and will be joined by Rep. Gerry Pollett (D-Seattle) as vice chair. The ranking republican members will be Rep. Larry Haler (R-Richland) joined by Rep. Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup).

Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) will continue as chair of the House operating budget committee, which has been renamed as the Appropriations Committee. Republican Gary Alexander (R-Olympia) has been named the ranking member.

New this year is a true subcommittee on education appropriations that will be chaired by former school director Kathy Haigh (D-Shelton). The subcommittee will meet once during the week and will be comprised solely of legislators who are members of the larger Appropriations Committee.

Executive Branch

Tomorrow Governor Gregoire will give her departing speech. On Wednesday Governor- Elect Jay Inslee will outline his vision for the state in his inaugural address before a joint session of the House and Senate at noon.

Council of President’s names new Interim Executive Director

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Yesterday the Council of Presidents announced Paul Francis will fill the roll of Interim Director of the organization. Current Executive Director, David Schumacher, is leaving his post after taking the position of OFM Director for Governor-elect Inslee’s new administration.

Paul Francis is currently the Associate Director for the organization. Before joining the Council, Francis worked for the Washington State House Democratic Caucus for five years on higher education policy issues.

For the full announcement click here.

Inslee Names Staffers; Schumacher to leave COP to head OFM

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Governor-elect Jay Inslee announced 5 new cabinet members during the AP Legislative Briefing hearing this morning on the Capitol campus. Touting their work with “lean management” practices, Inslee aid he wants to focus on making government more efficient to get more results out of the resources that the state currently has.

Among the members announced are:

First Five Cabinet Members:

  • Former state Sen. Kevin Quigley will lead the state Department of Social and Health Services
  • Joel Sacks will lead the Department of Labor & Industries
  • Dale Peinecke will take over the Employment Security Department
  • Marcie Frost will head up the Department of Retirement Systems
  • Alfie Alvarado-Ramos will lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Legislative Priorities:

During the AP legislative briefing Inslee spoke to several of his legislative priorities for the coming session. He plans to focus this year on stirring job growth, through mechanisms such as a tax credit for research and development and policies to boost the clean energy industry. Additionally, Inslee spoke of taking advantage of more Department of Defense contracts and stressed the need to align employer demand with areas of educational study. Specifically, he spoke for the need of an educational “strategic plan” that will identify where gaps exist in “high demand” STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas so policy makers can appropriate funds efficiently and effectively.

New Budget Director

Yesterday it was also reported David Schumacher, current Executive Director to the Council of Presidents (COP), has been tapped to serve as Inslee’s new Office of Financial Management’s (OFM) Budget Director. Former Staff Director for the Senate Ways & Means Committee, Schumacher has also worked for Boeing and OFM. Schumacher replaces Stan Marshburn and before him, Marty Brown.

Other Gubernatorial Appointments:

Finally, last week Inslee named his first staffers to join his team. Included is Ted Sturdevant, current Director of the Department of Ecology. Sturdevant will serve as Executive Director for Legislative Affairs and Policy for.  

David Postman, former journalist  for the Tacoma News Tribune and Seattle Times, and former Director of Communications and Media for Paul Allen’s Vulcan, has been tapped as Inslee’s Executive Director of Communications.

Finally, Joby Shimomura will serve as Senior Advisor. Shimomura managed Inslee’s gubernatorial campaign and served as Inslee’s chief of staff from 1999-2005.

Washington Legislative Session Kicks Off Next Week

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The 2013 biennial session will begin on Monday in Olympia. A quick “101” regarding the Washington Legislature. Each odd-numbered year the Washington State Legislature meets for 105-days to pass biennial operating, capital and transportation budgets and enact policy bills.

In addition to these tasks, the Washington Legislature will also tackle a response to the K-12 McCleary decision and implementation of Obamacare at the state level. All of which are the focus of next week’s committee hearings in both the Senate and the House.

Next week the focus of the appropriations committees will be a review of the Governor’s proposed 2013-15 biennial budget, released in mid-December. Higher education will have an opportunity to testify with regard to the proposed budget on January 15 in House Appropriations.

In addition, the higher education policy committees plan to focus on the higher education priorities of stakeholders. On January 16 the Council of Presidents and the six public baccalaureate institutions will present their priorities to the Committee. Other stakeholders including students, faculty, and the Washington Achievement Council will present on Tuesday and Thursday.

Stay tune for the latest news from The Hill…..

Washington’s Public Four Year Institutions Release Proposal for Investment in Higher Education

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Today Washington’s public four-year universities are asking the Legislature to bolster sagging state investment in higher education in order to freeze resident undergraduate tuition for the first time in a quarter century.

The proposal asks for a $225 million investment in state funding for the 2013-15 biennium to sustain current enrollment levels and build capacity to expand access in the state’s public baccalaureate system.  In exchange the institutions would implement a tuition freeze for resident undergraduate tuition for the next two years.

This investment would support Evergreen’s basic needs and make an initial investment in sustaining and building capacity for student success. This would also provide Evergreen the necessary funds to build upon the quality of academic programs and improve student success, sustain and improve student recruitment and retention efforts through improved research capacity and investments in academic advising and financial aid as well as targeted support for entering students. In addition these funds would provide support to establish a dedicated Veterans Center at the College and increase support for the College’s science curriculum.

The investment by the state would be disbursed to the institutions on a pro-rata basis. Evergreen’s portionwould be $8.3 million.