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Governor Announces New Accountability Framework for All of State Government

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Last week Governor Inslee announced the preview of a new accountability framework for state government in Washington.  The new approach “Results Washington” is based in the Lean method pioneered by Toyota car factories and used by Boeing.

The mission statement in progress states that the intention of the new framework is “To build a thriving Washington by fostering the spirit of continuous improvement, enhancing the conditions for job creation, preparing students for the future and valuing our environment, our health and our people.”

Results Washington is still a month away from a formal roll out, but a preview of the framework was provided by Inslee’s Chief of Staff Mary Alice Heuschel at an event on government management and efficiency.

Though similar to Governor Gregoire’s Government Management Accountability Program (GMAP) which also was based on the Lean method, Results Washington is expected to be broader encompassing all of state government.

The framework will focus on five goals:

  • A world class education system from preschool through college
  • A prosperous economy
  • Making Washington a national leader in sustainable energy and a clean environment
  • Health and safe communities
  • Efficient, effective and accountable government. This is an overarching goal over the four goals previously listed.

Each goal will be organized as SMART- Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

In the next month the Governor’s Office will be working to finalize the main goals and develop targets that agencies will aim to reach. There is expected to be three phases and a system of “leading indicators” to show progress. The indicators will cut across agency boundaries and results will be made public on a single website.

Student Achievement Council Selects New Officers

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The Washington Student Achievement Council recently selected new leadership.

Maud Daudon and Karen Lee, as selected by the members of the Council, will serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Council.

Ray Lawton will remain in his position as Secretary for the Council.

Maud Daudon and Karen Lee are both citizen members of the Council, serving at the request of Governor Jay Inslee. Ray Lawton is the appointed representative for the Independent Colleges of Washington.

Elections for these positions occur annually, and all three members will serve one-year terms.

The Latest from D.C.

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In the last two days of this week progress appeared to slow down on two critical fronts in the U.S. Senate.

First, the tentative bipartisan agreement reached earlier this week with regard to student loan interest rates was significantly weakened after the Congressional Budget Office estimated the agreement’s costs at $22 billion over the next decade. The higher-than-expected cost estimate, which would make the loans unprofitable for the government, threatens the deal.

Second, the full U.S. Senate appropriations committee passed a 2014 spending bill that largely mirrored the funding levels for education proposed by the subcommittee earlier this week.  The largest difference in the bill that was passed out of the full committee was a reduction in the funds allocated to the Race to the Top program for college affordability. The bill passed out of committee reduces the funding levels from $400 million to $150 million.
Funding for other education and research programs stayed the same in the full committee’s version of the bill. The bill allocates $850 million for the TRIO programs, which help low-income, first-generation college students prepare for postsecondary education.  Under the bill, the total maximum Pell Grant would rise by $140 to $5,785.

Bipartisan Senate Agreement on Student Loans Reached

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This week the debate on student loan interest rates experienced a step forward. A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal on a long-term change to interest rates for all new federal student loans.

This agreement comes after interest rates on some loans doubled last week. Federally subsidized student loans increased to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent

The agreement would tie the interest rate on new student loans to market conditions. Rates, based on the yield on 10-year Treasury bills, would vary from year to year, but be fixed over the life of the loan. Rates would be capped so they couldn’t rise indefinitely if interest rates spike: undergraduate loans would be capped at 8.25 percent, and graduate loans at 9.25 percent. Finally, the compromise would be retroactive, so students taking out loans after July 1 would get the new interest rate.

Final details on the interest rate are awaiting a score from the Congressional Budget Office this week. But the bipartisan group agreed that all undergraduate loans would be set at the 10-year Treasury yield plus 1.8 percentage points. For graduate loans, the rate would be the 10-year yield plus 3.4 percent; for Parent PLUS loans, the 10-year yield plus 4.5 percent.

If rates were based on Wednesday’s Treasury yield, undergraduate loans issued today would have an interest rate of 4.5 percent; graduate loans, 6.1 percent; and PLUS loans, 7.2 percent. All are lower than the rates for those loans under current law.

Setting a single rate for all undergraduate loans means that subsidized loans, which go to students determined to have financial need, would no longer have lower rates than unsubsidized loans, which are available to all undergraduates regardless of need. From 2007 until last week, subsidized loans had lower interest rates. The rate for unsubsidized loans has been 6.8 percent.

If the plan passes the Senate, the House of Representatives is likely to follow suit. A vote on the measure has not yet been scheduled.

Developments from the Other Washington

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This week in the other Washington higher education was on the mind of policymakers.

In the U.S. House, the Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on innovation in higher education. Among the topics of most interest to members was the area of competency-based education and prior learning assessment.  Speakers included representatives from the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning, StraighterLine, the University System of Maryland, and Western Governors University.

On the other side of the Capitol, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services and Education approved a FY14 appropriations bill.

Among the major investments in the bill are funds to support a “Race to the Top” program focusing on college affordability and  a significant increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health.

The bill sets discretionary spending at $164.3 billion. This includes $400 million to support the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” initiative.  The funding for the program will be an incentive for states to reduce college costs and improve academic outcomes. The subcommittee would also allocate $850 million for the TRIO programs, which help low-income, first generation college students prepare for and succeed in postsecondary education.  Finally, the bill would increase the total maximum Pell Grant by $140 to $5,785.

The House has not yet introduced its version of the appropriations bill. It is considered unlikely that the two bills will be reconciled and passed. The full appropriations committee will meet later this week.

Governor Inslee Signs Biennial Capital Budget

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This afternoon Governor Inslee signed into law the 2013-15 biennial capital budget (SB 5035) with a single veto.

The Governor vetoed language that would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create an interagency agreement with Evergreen’s Washington State Institute for Public Policy to analyze the relationship between school design and student performance and to develop recommendations for the school construction assistance program.

The language was vetoed based on the reasoning that it was deemed overly broad and an unnecessary expense.

The biennial capital budget signed by the Governor provides $15.280 million for Evergreen’s capital program.

Over the next biennium Evergreen receives funding for three projects: (1) Science Lab I – Basement Renovation ($1.805 million), (2) Science Lab II – Second Floor Renovation ($4.694 million), and (3) Lecture Hall Renovation – Design ($1.308 million).

In addition the budget includes funding for minor works preservation and preventative maintenance.

Governor Signs Operating Budget

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On Sunday Governor Inslee signed into law the 2013-15 biennial operating budget with a modest list of vetoes.

Among the items the Governor vetoed were three studies directed to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, an Evergreen public service center.  These include:

  • Extraordinary Foster Care Cost Study based on the reasoning that a study is not necessary at this time.
  • Safety Assessment Tool Study based on the reasoning that a study at this time would be premature when the Department of Social and Health Services has not yet determined whether the assessment tool will continue to be used, modified, or maintained.
  • K-12 Funding Task Force based on the reasoning that another task force is duplicative of proposals from recent work groups.

The legislatively passed operating budget makes the strongest investment in higher education in years. The proposed budget assumes no increases in resident undergraduate tuition rates for the 2013-15 biennium. For 2013-14 the public, four-year institutions are prohibited from using tuition-setting authority to exceed the appropriated tuition level.

The total budget provides $3.1 billion in state funds to support higher education. The budget provides $119.3 million in funding to support the core academic functions of the institutions of higher education. Finally the budget makes an investment in financial aid including the College Bound Scholarship program and the State Need Grant.

It Is Over…Legislature Sine Dies

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Early this evening the Washington Legislature brought to a close the 2013 legislative session.

After a regular session and two special sessions the Legislature passed a biennial operating and capital budget and a handful of policy bills in the final days of the second special session.

The Governor is expected to sign the legislation passed by the Legislature on Sunday.

WA Legislature Passes Biennial Capital Budget; Governor to Sign on Sunday

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Today the Washington Legislature took action on a biennial capital budget.  The Governor is expected to sign the capital budget along with the operating budget on Sunday.

The biennial capital budget passed by the Senate and the House provides $15.267 million for Evergreen’s capital program. This level of funding was below the budget originally passed by the Senate but above the budget passed by the House.

Over the next biennium Evergreen receives funding for three projects: (1) Science Lab I – Basement Renovation ($1.805 million), (2) Science Lab II – Second Floor Renovation ($4.694 million), and (3) Lecture Hall Renovation – Design ($1.308 million).

In addition the budget includes funding for minor works preservation and preventative maintenance.

Though the final capital budget represents approximately half of what Evergreen requested for the biennium, the funding provided allows the College to continue to move forward on critical capital projects over the next two years.

Student Loan Interest Rates Will Increase on Monday

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Congress headed home this evening for the Fourth of July recess without implementing legislation to prevent an increase in the interest rate on federally subsidized students loans. As a result, interest rates will double for students on Monday from 3.4% to 6.8% on new subsidized Stafford loans.

Over the last year, Congress has been working on efforts to prevent what will now take place on Monday.

The Obama administration and Congressional Republicans supported a long-term change to how interest rates are determined for all federal student loans. Those plans differed in the particulars, but both would have tied interest rates to market rates, allowing them to rise without a cap as interest rates go up in the broader economy. Congressional Democrats pushed for a one- or two-year extension of the current 3.4 percent interest rate for subsidized student loans, arguing that the issue should be settled when Congress debates broader higher education legislation in the coming years.

It appeared earlier this week that a bipartisan compromise proposal might be the way to go. However the proposal could not garner sufficient bipartisan support in the Senate and its fate in the House remained uncertain.

Whether students will actually pay the new rate is unclear. On Thursday, Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who chairs the education committee, said that he wanted a one-year fix that would apply retroactively. Since the federal government is the lender for all new student loans, Congress could adjust interest rates after the fact. But where the money will come to pay for the extension, which last year cost $6 billion, is an open question.