Tag Archives: state legislature

Status of Moving Parts as Session Nears End

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Today is the first day of the last week of the scheduled 2010 supplemental session. Though much progress was made over the weekend several major pieces necessary to adjourn without a special session remain in motion.

Operating Budget
The 2010 supplemental operating budget (ESSB 6444) has passed both the House and Senate. The House passed a striker, which strikes the language from the Senate’s proposed 2010 operating budget and replaces it with the House’s proposed operating budget language. As a result the House effectively passed their proposed operating budget using SSB 6444 as the vehicle. The Senate did not concur with the changes made by the House.  As a result, ESSB 6444 is now in conference.

Capital Budget
The House proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget (HB 2836) is on the House floor waiting for further consideration. The Senate proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget (SB 6364) passed out of committee today and now goes to the Senate floor for further consideration.

Revenue Legislation
Though several revenue-related bills have been heard recently in various committees two revenue-related bills have made it into the end-game. Senate Bill 6143- sales tax and closes loopholes –  and Senate Bill 6874 – increases tobacco product tax.  Senate Bill 6143 is on the House floor awaiting further consideration. It is expected that the House will strike the language in SB 6143 and replace it with language that reflects the House’s proposed revenue package. Senate Bill 6874 is also on the House floor awaiting further consideration.

House and Senate Meet Legislative Deadline and Move More Bills Forward

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Yesterday marked the last deadline for the Washington State Legislature prior to adjournment on March 11. By end of day Friday, March 5 the House and Senate must have considered bills from the opposite chamber with the exception of initiatives and bills that are needed to implement the budget.

The action on the floor in each chamber moved several bills of interest to Evergreen forward in the process. Here is a breakdown of the most recent bills that have moved forward.

The House passed Senate Bill 6696 with a vote of 76-22. SB 6696 comprises several policy changes to K-12 to make Washington more competitive for Race to the Top dollars, including policies and structural changes in the areas of school and teacher evaluation, assessment, and preparation.

The bill passd the House with several amendments added to the final version. Of most importance to Evergreen was an amendment that striked language that was of concern to us and replaced it with language that we preferred. The language that was striked would have required the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges to select up to three community colleges to offer a BA plus teaching certificate in a subject matter shortage area.

The language that replaced this portion of the bill directs the Council of Presidents to convene an inter-institutional work group to implement plans prepared by the four-year institutions of higher education in response to a proviso in the 2009-2011 biennial budget regarding increasing the number of mathematics and science teachers. Requires the COP to report to the Education and Higher Education Committees on demonstrated progress toward achieving the outcomes identified in the plans by December 31, 2011.

Senate Bill 6696 now goes to the Senate for concurrence.

The Senate took action on four bills of interest to Evergreen – Senate Bill 6409 and House Bills 2403, 2776, and 2973.

Senate Bill 6409 creates the he Washington Opportunity Pathways Account. Beginning in state fiscal year 2011, all net revenues from in-state lottery games that are not otherwise dedicated to debt service on the Safeco Stadium and Qwest Field and Exhibition Center are dedicated to the new account.

The Washington Opportunity Pathways Account is subject to appropriation by the Legislature, and may only be used for the following programs: recruitment of entrepreneurial researchers, innovation partnership zones, and research teams; the early childhood education and assistance program (ECEAP); the State Need Grant; the State Work Study program; College Bound Scholarships; Washington Promise Scholarships; Washington Scholars; the Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE); the Passport to College Promise; the Educational Opportunity Grant; and GET Ready for Math & Science Scholarships.

The bill was amended on the Senate floor in two ways: (1) All net income from the multi-state lottery games, other than those dedicated to the Problem Gambling Account, will be deposited into the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account rather than into the General Fund and (2) Clarifies that implementation of new marketing strategies may begin prior to the required reports to the Legislature on those strategies.

Senate Bill 6409 now goes to the House for further consideration.

House Bill 2403 passed the Senate 48-0. HB 2403 expands the use of military leave to include state active duty and clarifies that military leave may only be charged for the days the person is normally scheduled to work for the state or local government.

House Bill 2403 was not amended by the House so does not need to return to the Senate for concurrence.  HB 2403 has been delivered to the Governor for her signature.

House Bill 2776 passed the Senate with a vote of 47-0. HB 2776 implements the recommendations by the Quality Education Council. Of particular interest to Evergreen the bill changes timelines, moves them up a year, for technical working groups on compensation and local finance and puts the Compensation Working Group under the lead direction of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, rather than the Office of Financial Management.

House Bill 2776 now goes back to the House for concurrence.

House Bill 2973 passed with a vote of 46-0 in the Senate. HB 2973 expands the definition of resident student to include a student who resides in Washington and is on active military duty stationed in one of the nine Oregon border counties. In addition, spouses and dependents of active military members stationed in one of the border counties and living in Washington are also eligible for in-state tuition rates as long as the spouse or dependent also resides in Washington. If the person on active military duty moves from Washington or is reassigned out of one of the Oregon border counties, his or her spouse or dependent maintains resident status so long as the spouse or dependent resides in Washington and is continuously enrolled in a degree program.

House Bill 2973 was not amended in the Senate so there is no need for the House to concur on any changes. HB 2973 now goes to the Governor for her signature.

Senate Ways and Means Takes Action on Revenue Bills

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Yesterday, the Senate Ways & Means Committee held a long executive session to take action on  two revenue bills – Senate Bills 6874 and 6143. Both bills reflect the intent of the Senate’s revenue package released in February.

Substitute Senate Bill 6874, passed on a voice vote, would significantly increase the cost of tobacco products in Washington.  If enacted, the bill would increase the tax on cigarettes by $1, to a total of $3.025 per pack of 20 cigarettes. In addition, an added tax of  $1.825 per pack is included on promotions such “as buy one pack get one free” and “two packs for the price of one”.  Finally, cigarettes that are manufactured by nonparticipating members in the master settlement agreement are subject to an additional tax of 42 cents per pack.

The bill also creates the basic health plan stabilization account in which the tax revenue generated will go to  support enrollment in the basic health plan.

The revenue generated for FY11 is expected to be $85.698 million and is estimated to fund approximately 36,600 enrollments in the basic health plan.

Substitute Senate Bill 6874 nows goes to the Senate Floor for further consideration.

Substitute Senate Bill 6143 passed with a vote of 12-10. SSB 6143 includes a proposed temporary three-tenths of 1 percent sales tax increase and the implementation of the Working Families Tax Credit.  

The sales tax increase would be for three years and would include funding for the Working Families Tax Credit to dramatically reduce the impact on low income families. The Washington Department of Revenue has estimated the tax increase would cost the typical household $29.33 a year. The tax credit, provided to those eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, would provide a minimum rebate of $25.

In addition, the bill closes more than a dozen tax loopholes ( No longer among them is a sales tax exemption for used car trade-ins). Finally, the bill includes the implementation of a sales tax on bottled water (expires June 1, 2015) and the implementation of a three-year business and occupation tax surcharge on services of one-quarter of 1 percent. The latter would be teamed with an increase in the small business tax credit from $35 per month to $70 per month.

The two-bill revenue package would generate $890 million. SSB 6143 now goes to the Senate floor for further consideration.

House Passes 2010 Supplemental Operating Budget

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Late last night the House passed their proposed 2010 supplemental operating budget  (SB 6444) with a vote of 55-43.

Though the House passed their proposed 2010 supplemental operating budget from committee to the floor two weeks ago (HB 2824), it is the Senate’s proposed budget that the House voted on.

The House passed a striker, which strikes the language from the Senate’s proposed 2010 operating budget and replaces it wit the House’s proposed operating budget language (HB 2824). As a result the House effectively passed their proposed operating budget using SB 6444 as the vehicle.

The striking language passed by the House reduces state funding to Evergreen by 3%, of which $415,000 must be used to reduce compensation.  In addition, the Labor Center is transferred to South Seattle Community College (reduces state funding by $150,000) and$5.839 million is transferred from the Evergreen Capital Projects Account to the general fund. Finally, $155,000 is appropriated to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to conduct various studies.

On the floor the House considered 61 amendments to Senate Bill 6444. Of the 61 amendments, twenty-one passed. Of these the following amendments impact Evergreen.

  • Establishes a legislative task force on four-year higher education institution affordability and access. The group will consist of one member from each caucus of both the House and Senate and will be staffed by legislative staff. The group will recommend a 10-year strategy that aligns state support, financial aid, tuition, and cost management and includes an analysis of higher education business operations and job placement and retention of graduates. The report is due to the Legislature by December 1, 2010.
  • Increases the monthly employer funding rate charged to participating employers for the Public Employees’ Benefits Board (PEBB) health and insurance benefits for fiscal year 2011 from $768 to $863 per eligible employee, and requires the PEBB not to adopt a plan for expenditures on benefits and administration that would project a total reserve level for the end of fiscal year 2011 of less than $90,000,000. The intent of the Legislature is that the Governor immediately request to commence bargaining a corresponding increase in the employee share of health premiums with the coalition of all the exclusive bargaining representatives with which health care benefit funding is bargained. Transfers $30 million from the Data Processing Revolving Fund and $13 million from the Public Works Assistance Account to the Salary/Insurance Increase Revolving Account. This amount is appropriated for agency charges due to the increased monthly employer funding rate in lieu of an appropriation from the state general fund.
  • Reduces the general fund–state appropriation at TheEvergreen State College by $14,000 and appropriates those amounts to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges for the Labor Education and Research Center.
  • Requires that at The Evergreen State College, $119,207 of the general fund–state appropriation for FY 2011 must be spent on the Longhouse Center and $103,146 of the general fund—state appropriation for FY 2011 must be spent on the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute.
  • Deletes the section reducing appropriations related to SSB 6503 (temporary layoffs), and directs the Office of Financial Management to develop a schedule of reduced compensation expenditures of state agencies by $48,648,000 million General Fund-State and $51,975,000 from all other funds. The reductions are to be distributed to each agency and institution of higher education proportionately based on each state agency and institution’s share of the total compensation of all state employees.

So what happens next in the legislative process.  Senate Bill 6444 now goes to the Senate for concurrence. Since the Senate’s proposed operating budget and the House’s proposed operating budget differed greatly, it is likely that the Senate will not concur with the changes made in the House. If the Senate does not concur, the bill will go to conference where a final 2010 supplemental operating budget will be developed.

Legislature Week 9: What is Happening

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The ninth week of the 2010 supplemental session- the last week of the legislation session – will be focused on closing differences between the Senate and House with regards to the operating and capital budgets as well as revenue.

As of today the proposed 2010 operating and capital budgets as well as revenue packages from the House and Senate have been released.

The floors of both chambers will be the center of legislative action from today through March 11.

Senate Ways and Means Hears Income Tax Legislation

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The Senate Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing late this afternoon on income tax legislation.

The proposed Substitute Senate Bill 6250 refers a new income tax to voters at the next general election. The income tax would be imposed on:

  • An individual’s income that is over $200,000.
  • For a head of a household, income over $300,000 is taxed.
  • For a married couple, the tax applies to income over $400,000.
  • If approved a tax on income is imposed on January 1, 2011, andthe state sales tax would be reduced to 5.5 percent on July 1, 2012.

The plan,presented by some Senate Democrats, would go something like this. The Legislature would pass a temporary sales tax increase, which would go into effect immediately to help alleviate our state’s looming cash-flow problem. In addition, the Legislature would also pass a referendum to the people, giving them the opportunity in November to repeal not just that three-tenths-of-a-cent increase, but an additional half-cent off the state sales tax – taking the state rate down to 6 cents, a level not seen in thirty years. Finally, in its place would go a high earners’ income tax of 4.5 percent on all income over $200,000 for individuals, $300,000 for heads of households, and $400,000 for married couples.

As with any other public hearing on a bill, committee staff provided by an overview of the bill. What was different during this hearing was the normal procedural overview of the bill was intermixed with parliamentary procedures rarely heard. An exciting moment for any political wonk.

After clarification and at the Chair’s discretion, the public hearing moved forward. Testimony opened with an eloquent and strong statement by the sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Rosa Franklin.

Testimony was presented that both favored and challenged the proposed subsitute bill heard before the Committee. Some of those that testified in favor of the bill included students from The Evergreen State College.

The Committee did not take any action on the bill.

Baby Steps but Progress Nonetheless

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The House and Senate continued their hard work to move bills through the final stages of the legislative process.

The House passed SB 6401 with a vote of 98-0. Senate Bill 6401 establishes an alternative selection process for selecting mechanical or electrical subcontractors for general contractor/construction manager projects. Evergreen has supported Senate Bill 6401 from the beginning which offers an alternative approach and more options for the College is this area.

The House amended the bill to require the public solicitation of proposals for a mechanical or electrical contractor be provided to the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises; and includes the firm’s plan for outreach to minority and women-owned businesses as an evaluation factor for selection of the subcontractor.

Senate Bill 6401 now must go back to the Senate for concurrence.

The Senate passed House Bill 2575 with a vote of 28-19. HB 2575 expands the membership of the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB) to

24 members to include representation from local public owners and regional transit authorities. The Evergreen State College works with CPARB in our capital project efforts.  Evergreen supports this change to the Board.

House Bill 2575 now goes to the Governor for her signature.

More Bills Trickle through Process

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As the week nears an end, the House and Senate continue to work hard to move bills through the final stages of the legislative process.

Earlier in the day, the House passed HB 3178 with a vote of 97-1.  House Bill 3178 organizes, consolidates, and, where appropriate, contracts with private providers for technology systems and resources.  In addition, the bill establishes spending restrictions for information technology for the 2009-2011 biennium.

The House passed a striker put forth by the House Ways & Means Committee which replaces the current language but maintains the intent of the bill. In addition, the final bill passed off the House floor with two amendments attached:

  • Amendment 119:  Adds the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges to the list of higher education entities exempted from provisions of the bill.
  • Amendment 118: Removes the section of the bill that changes the Data Processing Revolving Fund from a non-appropriated to an appropriated account.

House Bill 3178 now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

The Senate was also busy moving bills through the process. The Senate passed House Bill 2481 with a vote of 47-0.

HB 2481 allows the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to become a viable partner in the area of biomass and a potential partner with Evergreen in our Biomass Gasification Project. 

As passed by the House, HB 2481 will allow the DNR to do the following:

  • Allows the department to enter into contract terms up to 15 years when an entity plans and commits to a capital investment of at least 50 million dollars prior to the contract and completes that investment prior to removal of biomass under the contract.
  • Allows the department to include provisions in the agreement that are periodically adjusted for market conditions.
  • Requires the contract to include provisions that allow the department, when it is in the best interest of the trust beneficiaries, to maintain access to existing users of biomass.
  • Ensures that biomass volume conveyed under this chapter will not be counted toward the department’s sustainable harvest target, except that appraised timber sold in a conventional timber sale will count toward the target whether individual trees are ultimately used by that purchaser for timber or biomass energy.
  • Excludes wood from existing old growth forests from the definition of forest biomass

The bills now goes to the House for concurrence.

Tuesday on The Hill

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Though today was set to be a long way, both chambers adjourned earlier than expected after passing a handful of bills.

The House did not take action on the operating or capital budget. However, the House did pass three bills of interest to Evergreen.

Senate Bill 6355 passed with a vote of 96-0. SB 6355, a.ka. the system design bill,  implements the recommendations put forth by the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s (HECB) System Design Plan work during the interim.  The bill identifies a process for expanding the higher education system upon proven demand and for reaching the goals in the HECB’s Master Plan.

The bill passed with several amendments adopted to the bill.

  • Alters the current capital prioritization process for four-year, public baccalaureate institutions to require the Office of Financial Management to convene a group to rank higher education projects in single list by priority order.
  • Requires the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) to consider the strategic and operational use of technology in higher education as part of the process of developing the state needs assessment and provides the HECB with additional direction in awarding grants from the Washington Fund for Innovation regarding improving the use of technology.
  • Restores provisions in current law that require the HECB to give strong priority to proposals made through the Washington Fund for Innovation that involve more than one sector of education.
  • Clarifies that review of major expansion is limited to proposed capital investment in entirely new institutions, campuses, branches, or centers as well as conversion of existing campuses, branches, or centers that results in a mission change.

Senate Bill 6355 now goes back to the Senate for concurrence.

Senate Bill 6357 passed the House with a vote of 97-0. SB 6357 tasks the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), in consultation with numerous other persons and entities, with developing policies for awarding academic credit for learning from work and military experience, military and law enforcement training, career college training, internships and externships, and apprenticeships.

The bill now goes to the Governor for her signature.

Senate Bill 5543 passed the House with a vote of 71-27. SB 5543 was completely amended with new language put forth by the House Environmental Health Committee.

The new language requires every producer of mercury-containing lights (lamps, bulbs, tubes, or other devices containing mercury and providing illumination) sold in or into Washington for residential use to fully finance and participate in a product stewardship program; financing includes the Department of Ecology’s (Department) costs for administering and enforcing the program.  In addition the language requires:

  • All product stewardship programs must be approved and contracted by the Department but the product stewardship program is operated by a product stewardship organization.
  • Producers may participate in Department-approved independent plans that are individually or jointly financed and operated with other producers.
  • The product stewardship programs must be fully implemented by January 1, 2013.

Senate Bill 5543 now goes to the Senate for concurrence.

More Bills Move Forward in Process

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Another legislative deadline passed today. Fiscal committees in each chamber must have moved legislation from the opposite chamber out of committee and to the floor.

The remainder of session will focus on floor action in each chamber as bills are moved either to the other chamber for concurrence or to the Governor for her signature.

Since Friday a handful of bills of interest to Evergreen have passed both chambers and are now headed to the Governor for her signature – Senate Bills 5041, 6467, and 6367.

House Bill 5041 creates a statewide program to increase state procurement contracts with veteran-owned businesses. The bill encourages encouraged to state agencies to award 3 percent of all procurement contracts under $35,000 to veteran-owned businesses. The bill passed the House with a vote of 94-0.

Senate Bill 6467 allows the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Western Washington University, Eastern Washington University, or community and technical colleges in existence in 1942 to confer honorary degrees upon persons who were students at those institutions in 1942, but did not graduate because they were ordered into an internment camp. An honorary degree may also berequested by relatives for deceased qualified persons. The bill passed the House with a vote of 96-0.

Senate Bill 6367 allows state agencies to provide an Internet address and link on the agency’s website to a specific record request in addition to providing a record in response to a public records request. If the requester informs the agency that he or she cannot access records through the Internet, the agency must provide hard copies or allow the requester to view copies on the agency computer.  The bill passed the House with a vote of 96-0.

Two bills of interest to Evergreen – SB 5295 and HB 2519 – passed their respective chambers and now are awaiting for the other chamber to concur with changes made to the bills.

Senate Bill 5295 addresses unanimous recommendations from the Public Records Exemption Accountability Committee.

House Bill 2519  among other changes the bill requires state institutions of higher education to waive all tuition, service fees and activity fees for children and spouses of law enforcement officers, firefighters, and Washington State Patrol Officers, that die or become totally disabled in theline of duty while employed by any public law enforcement agency or full-time or volunteer fire department in Washington.