Tag Archives: state legislature

More and More Bills

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The Washington House and Senate continue to steadily move through bills as deadlines pass and new deadlines near. 

Washington House

In the House the deadline to move policy bills from commitee and to either an appropriation committee or the House floor passed yesterday (January 31). With the passage of this deadline the House has refocused on the appropriation committees in preparation for the next deadline. On February 7, bills, unless necessary to implement the budget, must have moved out of the fiscal committees to the floor.

House Education Appropriations & Oversight Committee

This morning the House Education Appropriations & Oversight Committee held a public hearing on a handful of bills. 

Among the bills heard this morning was legislation to provide greater flexibility to Washington’s institutions of higher education – both two- and four-year public institutions. The bill would enact a handful of changes to the business-side of the house at institutions of higher education.

The public baccalaureate institutions and community and technical colleges testified in support of the legislation. Both sectors highlighted the opportunity this bill would provide to institutions to maintain a focus on the mission of their institutions to educate students at a time of limited resources and further state funding reductions.  The Governor’s Office expressed concerns about the need to align the bill with efficiencies in higher education.

Washington Senate

The Senate has a few more days before the first deadline of the session is met. All Senate bills must have moved from their respective policy committee by end of day on February 3.

Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development

As the Friday deadline nears, the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee met this afternoon. The Committee held a public hearing on legislation that specifies that the State Archives, to insure the maintenance of security and preservation standards and to promote efficiency and access consistent with the requirements of this chapter, must authorize  the operation or lease of an archive, records center, records warehouse, or records storage facility. In addition  any state agency with an archives, records center, records warehouse, or records storage facility must transfer the records to the state archives by July 1, 2013.

Evergreen, along with the University of Washington, testified with concerns with regard to the potential costs of requiring institutions to transfer records to the state archives. In addition Evergreen expressed concern about the potential negative impact on the College’s  current digital archive program.

Following the public hearing the Committee took action on several bills previously heard this session. Among the bills the Committee passed included legislation to establish a new state level entity for higher education, create financial literacy options for postsecondary education students, and provide for regulatory flexibility for institutions of higher education.

Committees Continue to Work to Move Bills

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Policy committees in both the House and Senate continued their work to move bills forward in the process. Today marks the last day for House policy bills to move out of committee followed by a February 3 deadline in the Senate.

This morning kicked-off with dualing committees in the House. The House Capital Budget Committee held a public hearing on legislation that would provide increased flexibility around minor works and predesign requirements for institutions of higher education. The Council of Presidents, which represents the six public baccalaureate institutions in Washington, testified in support of the bill. The Committee followed the public hearing with an executive session in which the bill was passed by the committee and moved forward in the process.

At the same time the House Education Appropriations & Oversight Committee held a public hearing on legislation that requires a model policy for open licensing of courseware developed with state funds at higher education institutions.  Higher education institutions, students, faculty, and others, while supportive of the intent of the legislation, expressed concerns about the scope of the legislation, the impact on innovation, and lack of resources -both fiscal and personnel – to undertake this initiative. In addition representatives from higher education testified to the work already being done at institutions to provide for low-cost textbook options for students and highlighted other successful programs across the nation that might serve as models for the development of such an effort in Washington.

In the Senate, the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development held a marathon public hearing on legislation ranging from developing an open courseware policy at insitutions of higher education to creating a database of services provided to students with disabilities at institutions of higher education to putting into law that athletics not receive any state funding at WSU and UW.

House Higher Education Committee Holds Last Meeting As Deadlines Pass

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This afternoon the House Higher Education Committee held its last session prior to the first deadlines of the supplemental session. Tomorrow, January 31, marks the deadline for all House policy bills to have moved from committee to either the floor of their respective chambers or to an appropriation committee.

The Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 2717. The bill focuses on innovation at Washington’s higher education institutions. The bill encourages the public baccalaureate institutions to design innovative approaches to increase the number of resident students gaining baccalaureate degrees or further updating their academic credentials with a focus on high-growth sectors of the economy. In addition, the bill encourages the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) to charter a consortium of volunteer community and technical colleges to design innovative approaches to rapidly and substantially increase the cost-effective delivery of developmental and remedial education, and test these innovations in pilot projects where possible.

The public baccalaureate institutions testified in support of the intention of the bill and shared the innovative activities going on at all of the campuses of the bill but expressed concerns about additional reporting requirements and the lack of state resources for higher education.

The Committee followed the public hearing with an executive session in which three bills were moved forward in the process. Among the bills moved along was House Bill 2717 heard earlier in the day, legislation to enable the opportunity for early registration for veterans, and a bill that would establish a new state higher education entity.

2012 Supplemental Session: Week 4

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Week Four of the 2012 Supplemental Session begins with the passage of the first deadlines of the session.

Tomorrow, January 31 all policy bills that originated in the House must pass out of their respective committees and move to either the floor or an appropriation committee to be considered still active this session. The primary exemption from this being any legislation that is deemed “NTIB” or “Necessary to Implement the Budget”. All Senate policy bills must move from committee by Friday, February 3.

With the deadlines looming in both chambers the higher education policy committees have been full of activity to move bills forward in the process before attention turn towards the appropriation committees and then the Senate and House floors.

This week the focus of the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will be to move bills forward to the floor or to an appropriation committee.

In the meantime, the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will begin to take up the policy bills referred to committee in order to determine what bills will move forward to the floor by the next deadline – February 7 which marks the date by which bills must move from their respective appropriation committee and to either the Senate or House floor.

Third Week Ends in Olympia

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As the third week of the 2012 supplemental session ends, the Legislature faces the end of initial policy committee work and will switch gears to focus on moving bills through appropriation committees and their respective floors.

The House Higher Education Committee moved several pieces of legislation during its second to last meeting prior to the deadline for policy committees on January 31. Among the bills the Committee took action on include legislation to require public comment opportunities at board meetings of the institutions of higher education, provide regulatory relief to institutions of higher education, and reinforce the role of students around the student and activities fees.

The Senate Early Learning & K12 Education Committee held a public hearing on legislation, which Evergreen testified in support, to establish a task force focused on increasing collaboration among K-12 and higher education for students with disabilities.

Finally the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee met this morning and took action on two bills that would impact institutions of higher education. House Bill 2071 focuses on raising awareness about the opportunity for  multiple career pathways to marketable job skills and productive careers and promoting these opportunities.

In addition the Committee took up legislation focused on investing in higher education. The legislation requires that, in each fiscal year in which state revenues exceed the prior fiscal year’s revenues for the general fund, certain amounts of increased revenue be appropriated for public schools and higher education, and be appropriated or transferred to the new dedicated account. The bill would provide funding for institutions of higher education based on improvements in such areas as graduation and retention.

Higher Education Committees Move Bills Forward

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This week the Legislature is running at full force. After losing nearly half a week of business due to the weather the House and Senate are busy moving bills forward in the process as the first legislative deadlines approach next week.

Earlier this week the House and Senate Higher Education Committees held public hearings that included several bills, such as legislation to establish a new state level higher education entity and legislation focused on academic advising, that were heard last week to ensure that all stakeholders have a voice in the dialogue.

On Monday the House Higher Education Committee held a public hearing on legislation that would provide veterans at higher education institutions with priority registration. The Council of Presidents testified in support of the intention of the legislation to best serve veterans who attend higher education institutions in Washington and is working with the sponsor of the legislation (HB 2503) to provide for some changes to ensure equity for students and provide that students are not negatively impacted in efforts to graduate on time.

Today the House Higher Education Committee took up a wide variety of bills ranging from legislation to increase the inclusion of students in institutional decision-making to a bill that would provide greater regulatory flexibility for institutions of higher education in Washington.

In the Senate yesterday the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee met to hear several bills. Among the bills the Committee took up included legisaltion to establish a new state entity for higher education and a bill that would provide greater regulatory flexibility for institutions of higher education.

This afternoon the Senate Higher Education Committee will continue its work. The Committee will hold a public hearing on legislation that assists youth and alumni of foster care to move successfully through K-12 and higher education, incorporates students into institutional decisionmaking processes, and would eliminate the Washington Workforce Training and Education Board.

2012 Supplemental Session: Week 3

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The weather wreaked havoc on much of last week’s work at the Legislature. Though some committees met up to the bitter end, many were cancelled and will likely reschedule bills for this week.

The House must pass out all policy bills by January 31 and the Senate must move all policy bills no later than February 3.

The House Higher Education Committee took up several bills last week ranging from student advising to establishing a new state-level entity to coordinate education in Washington. The Senate took up similar legislation focusing both on a new entity as well as providing financial literacy to students who receive state financial aid.

This coming week committees, especially policy committees, will be moving several bills as deadlines loom in Week 4.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be to review the Governor’s 2012 supplemental capital budget and to consider several bills that would restructure aspects of the current budget process.

In addition, the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will continue to hold public hearings on several pieces of legislation introduced this session ranging from open courseware to student involvement on campus.

2012 Supplemental Session: Week 2

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Today marks the second week of a sixty day supplemental legislative session.

While committees continue to hold work sessions on various topics, the focus is changing to legislation and the process of hearing and moving bills forward. To learn more follow the links below.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be to review the Governor’s 2012 supplemental capital budget and to learn more, via work sessions, about the new proposed state-entity for coordinating higher education, financial aid, and the accountability and tuition rates at the public, baccalaureate institutions.

In addition, the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will begin to hear several pieces of legislation introduced this session ranging from a student academic portal to academic advising to three-year baccalaureate programs.

2012 Supplemental Session Kicks-Off

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This afternoon policymakers returned to Olympia to begin the 2012 supplemental session.

The sixty-day supplemental session continues the work the Washington Legislature began in December. In December the Legislature met for a special session focused on a projected shortfall of approximately $1.4 billion with the strong intention of setting aside another $600 million in reserves. The lawmakers were successful in passing some early budget action to close about a quarter of the $2 billion gap in state funding primarily through transfers, estimated savings in the previous biennium, a change in unclaimed property, and a handful of reductions.

The next sixty days will focus on resolving the remaining $1.5 billion budget problem, a conversation that is likely to be complex and require a balance of reductions, reform, and revenue. The next revenue forecast is scheduled for February 16 and it is expected lawmakers will release budget proposals after this date.

The supplemental session is scheduled to end on March 8.  If legislators cannot complete their work it is possible the Governor could call them back into a special session. However the influence of the November general election is likely to make this difficult, especially since this time around many legislators will see changes to their district due to recommendations from the Redistricting Commission, the fact that they cannot do fundraising while they are in session, and the earlier filing date to run.

So stay tuned!

2012 Supplemental Session: Week 1

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The 2012 Supplemental Legislative Session convenes on Monday, January 9.

Several work sessions and some public hearings are scheduled on critical issues that impact higher education. To learn more follow the links below.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be to review the impact of early budget action in December and the current budget situation and to review in greater detail programs and services within the budget.

In addition, the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will receive results of reports requested from the 2011 legislative session on common course numbering and hold work sessions on innovative practices in higher education, efficiencies among the two and four year institutions in Washington, and the employment and earning outcomes for Washington’s higher education institutions.