On Friday the House and Senate took steps to advance budgets and move closer to meeting the sine die deadline in two week.

Senate

In the afternoon the Senate passed a proposed capital budget from the floor to the House with a vote of 31-18.  Fourteen amendment were drawn up for consideration, several were withdrawn or pulled. None of the proposed amendments would have made changes to higher education.

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.

The budget also include a budget shift which moves funds from General Obligation Bonds to institutional Capital Projects Account Fund. The impact for Evergreen is a budget shift of $855,000.

The capital budget now advances to the House for consideration.

House Appropriations

The House Appropriations Committee spent the afternoon finalizing a proposed operating budget.  Over sixty amendments were offered between to the budget.

Four amendments related to higher education were proposed. The budget was amended to reflect one amendment:

• The proposed budget includes proviso language requiring the Washington Student Achievement Council to convene a task force with representatives from the four-year institution of higher education and the state board of community and technical colleges in consultation with the Office of Financial Management to identify and report on a series of strategies for future directions in tuition, state higher education funding, and student aid policy in order to support the goals put forth in the Ten-Year Roadmap. The amended language added the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges to the Task Force, required WASAC to invite independent research organizations and experts to participate in the task force, and added a broader focus for the task force.

The budget now moves to the House floor for further consideration.