This morning the House Capital Budget advanced the higher education efficiencies bill to the floor.
The bill changes to business practices resulting in greater efficiency and effectiveness for Washington’s public baccalaureate institutions. In particular to capital construction SB 6362 would increase the predesign project limit for capital projects from $5 million to $10 million.
Yesterday the House and Senate were busy as sine die looms in two weeks.
Senate
In the late afternoon the Senate passed a proposed operating budget off the floor with a vote of 41-8.
Following the vote on the floor, the Senate Higher Education Committee convened for the last time this session. The Committee advanced several gubernatorial appointments to the Senate for confirmation. Held a public hearing on a handful of bills and moved several more bills forward for further consideration.
Among the bills heard by the Committee was legislation requiring higher education institutions to adopt a policy to award academic credit to individuals for certain military training courses and programs as well as share this information with students (HB 1858). Evergreen signed-in to support the bill.
The Committee took action on several additional bills which now advance in the process. Among those bills passed by the Committee:
House
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education advanced several bills forward in the process. Among those bills passed by the Committee:
This morning the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education held a public hearing on a handful of Senate bills.
The committee heard legislation that requires higher education institutions to adopt a policy to award academic credit for military training courses/programs and provide the policy to enrolled students who have listed prior or present military service in their application (SB 5969).
In addition the Committee heard legislation that creates a College Bound Scholarship work group of legislators and higher education stakeholders to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature about recommendations for making the program viable, including recommendations for making the program viable, including but not limited to funding (SB 6436).
Evergreen signed-in to support both bills.
This morning the House proposed Capital Budget was advanced from Committee to the Floor.
The House Capital Budget provides funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $5 to renovate the Carver Academic Center at Western Washington University.
Working late into the night the Senate Ways & Means Committee moved a proposed operating and capital budget to the Senate floor. Over sixty amendments were offered between the two budgets.
Ten amendments related to higher education were proposed. The following were amended to the budget:
The budgets now move to the Senate floor for consideration.
This morning began early with the House’s proposed Capital Budget scheduled for a public hearing.
Evergreen, along with other higher education stakeholders, testified to the impact of the supplemental budget on institutions and students.
Evergreen thanked the Legislature for providing the College with the authority to enter into a certificate of participation, through the Office of the State Treasurer, to purchase the building the College currently leases for Evergreen’s Tacoma program. Evergreen noted that the certificate of participation would allow the College to establish a permanent site for the program, which has been in existence for over 30 years, by redirecting the current lease rate toward the purchase of a permanent location for the program. The impact of this action would be to create equity in an owned existing building and provide Evergreen and its students with certainty with regard to the future of the program, benefiting not only the College but the State.
The House Capital Budget provided funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $5 to renovate the Carver Academic Center at Western Washington University.
This afternoon Governor Inslee, surrounded by students, legislators, and supporters signed into law the Real Hope Act.
The bill allows students to be eligible for the State Need Grant program if they met the following criteria:
Or
This afternoon the Washington House released a proposed 2014 Supplemental Operating and Capital budget.
The House’s proposal would boost the state’s $33.6 billion dollar budget by approximately $170 million. The majority of the increase goes to maintaining current services. The major changes to maintenance level include mandatory caseload, utilization, and federal match rate adjustments in health care, staff mix and enrollment changes in K-12; College Bound Scholarship adjustments in higher education; caseload adjustments in TANF/WCCC; Hospital Safety Net Assessment and Affordable Care Act Implementation adjustments; and self-insurance and workers compensation premium adjustments.
The budget also includes approximately $82 million in policy level increases. Among those changes included are $60 million for K-12 for materials, supplies, and operating costs; $18 million in community mental health funding increases; and $4 million in higher education increases in addition to $5 million to support the Real Hope Act.
Higher Education
The supplemental budget proposed by the House supports the investment made in higher education in the 2013-15 biennial budget.
The budget makes a handful of investments in higher education including $5 million to the State Need Grant in response to the Real Hope Act and $2 million to support the Institute of Protein Design at the University of Washington and matching funds to support a federal grant for the Jet Fuels Center of Excellence at Washington State University.
The budget also maintains the ability for public baccalaureate institutions to raise tuition beyond appropriated tuition levels for the 2014-15 academic year. The budget includes clarifying language that underscores the requirement that institutions that raise tuition beyond appropriated levels must mitigate the impact to students with additional financial aid.
Capital Budget
The House also proposed a supplemental capital budget for higher education. The House provided funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $5 million to renovate the Carver Academic Center at Western Washington University.
On Tuesday afternoon the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on the Senate’s proposed 2014 supplemental operating and capital budgets. Evergreen, along with other higher education stakeholders, testified to the impact of the supplemental budgets on institutions and students.
The Committee is expected to hold an executive session on the budgets later today.
Operating Budget
Evergreen thanked the Senate for the investment in higher education in the biennial budget and shared with the Committee Evergreen’s commitment to not increase tuition in either academic year of the biennium. In addition, the College shared its support for the investment in the College Bound program, the State Need Grant with the passage of the Real Hope Act, and the Opportunity Scholarship.
Evergreen shared concerns with the committee about the inclusion of policy language to collect and distribute information with regard to student earnings post-graduation. Citing the importance of accurate and clear post-graduation success data, Evergreen testified with specific concerns about the validity and integrity of the data to be collected as proposed. Evergreen shared its support for a proposed amendment that was offered by the University of Washington when similar language was considered in the House Higher Education Committee.
Finally Evergreen shared the impact of budget reductions to the College in the biennial budget including reductions related to the absorption of IT savings and Lean Management efficiencies.
With regard to higher education, the supplemental budget proposed by the Senate supports the investment made in higher education in the 2013-15 biennial budget. The budget does extend the current tuition freeze to the second year of the biennium.
The budget makes a handful of investments in higher education including $5 million for the State Need Grant which was expanded under the Real Hope Act and $25 million to expand Opportunity Scholarships available and match the additional private contributions received. In addition the budget includes language for the Washington Student Achievement Council to conduct an assessment of the higher education needs of the city of Covington, the Washington State Auditor to conduct an audit of the use of dedicated local and operating fee accounts by Washington’s public higher education institutions and the Education Research and Data Center to collect and publish short-term and long-term earnings and employment data for completers of higher education degrees.
Capital Budget
Evergreen thanked the Senate for providing Evergreen with the authority to enter into a certificate of participation, through the Office of the State Treasurer, to purchase the building the College currently leases for the College’s Tacoma program.
Evergreen shared concerns with regard to a budget shift which moves $855,000 from General Obligation Bonds to Evergreen’s Capital Projects Account Fund.
With regard to higher education the Senate provided funding for a small number of projects across higher education. This includes authority for Evergreen to enter into a certificate of participation to purchase the existing facility in Tacoma for the College’s Tacoma program; $2 million to remove, clean and dispose of two underground diesel oil tanks at Central Washington University; and $50,000 to conduct a budget evaluation study of the Carver academic building renovation with OFM and Western Washington University.
This weeks marks another major deadline in the legislative process as the Legislature marches forward toward the end of session in mid-March. House policy committees must advance Senate bills forward in the process by the end of Wednesday, February 26; the deadline in the Senate for House bills is Friday.
House Higher Education Committee
This morning the House Higher Education Committee held a series of public hearings on Senate bills that passed the floor last week.
Among the bills considered this morning was legislation that would change business practices resulting in greater efficiency and effectiveness for Washington’s public baccalaureate institutions (SB 6362) and ensure that colleges and universities clearly disseminate their financial policies to students (SB 6358). The Committee also took executive action on bills heard in committee.
The Committee rounded out the meeting with a work session focused on higher education transitions. The Committee heard updates with regard to two programs that focus on easing the transition to higher education: (1) the College Bound Scholarship and (2) MESA Community College Program.
The Committee will meet next on Wednesday afternoon. This will be the last meeting prior to the policy cut-off for bills passed in the Senate to be considered in the House.
Senate Higher Education Committee
This afternoon the Senate Higher Education Committee continued its work to advance gubernatorial appointments to higher education related boards. The Committee heard from nominations who would serve on the boards of Spokane and Spokane Falls Community College, Shoreline Community College, and the Washington Student Achievement Council.
Following the conversation with future Trustees the Committee held a series of public hearings on house bills. The Committee heard proposed legislation that would create an informational program to increase applications from high-achieving low-income students to selective institutions of higher education (HB 2694) and clean up outdated statutes pertaining to general obligation bonds that were issued for higher education capital projects and that have matured and provides expiration dates and clarifications for certain higher education provisions and programs (HB 2546).
The Committee also held a public hearing on House Bill 2613 which changes to business practices resulting in greater efficiency and effectiveness for Washington’s public baccalaureate institutions.
The Committee closed with an executive session. The Committee advanced several pieces of legislation and moved multiple gubernatorial appointments forward. The legislation advanced included amended legislation to require higher education institutions to post department-level, budget unit-level, division-level, school-level, or college-level expenditure information on their respective web site within sixty days of the closing fiscal year (HB 2336) and an amended bill to direct OFM to create a website with accessible information on revenues and expenditures and require all branch campuses to display specific data on the office of financial management’s dashboard for four-year institutions of higher education by December 1, 2014 (HB 2651).
The Committee will meet next on Thursday afternoon. This is the last meeting of the Committee before the Friday cut-off.