The Evergreen State college was one of 29 public schools and colleges that received an energy grant this week.
The grants from the Washington Department of Commerce will assist schools and colleges with paying for lighting and heating upgrades, new electrical and hot water systems, and air conditioning improvements.
Evergreen received $415,742 to provide a heat recovery system, control system renovation, and lighting.
This afternoon the Governor signed into law House Bill 2561.
House Bill 2561 requires a ballot measure be sent to voters to authorize the issuance of $505 million in bonds to finance an array of energy efficiency improvements to public schools and buildings on public college and university campuses.
The bonds for the improvements would be funded by making permanent the proposed tax on bottled water after three years.
Citing its commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality plan, the Princeton Review has included Evergreen in its first-ever Green Colleges Guide .
Traditionally an index of academic and campus culture factors, the Princeton Review has for decades rated colleges for students and parents researching higher education institutions. With the Guide to Green Colleges, the Princeton Review is responding to the 66% of students polled in 2009 who indicated that they would find information on potential colleges’ commitments to the environment useful in making their post-secondary school decisions.
According to publisher Rob Franek, the guide uses three main areas to gauge a college’s “green”-ness:
The book itself also cites Evergreen’s LEED-certified Seminar II building and recent library renovations among the college’s green practices. In addition, the college’s commitment to sustainability are highlighted in its use of local and organic food, available transportation alternatives, and student-initiated groups and organizations addressing environmental issues.
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.
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:
Senate Bill 5543 now goes to the Senate for concurrence.
Today, House and Senate policy committees continued to work bills from the opposite chamber through the legislative process.
The House has less than 24 hours to consider policy bills from the Senate before the deadline for policy bills is reality. The House must move Senate initiated policy bills by 5:00 p.m. on February 23.
The Senate has a few more days to get bills through the process. The Senate must move House policy bills to an appropriations committee or to the floor by 5:00 p.m. February 26.
Several bills of interest to Evergreen were heard by policy committees today and one bill was moved to the floor by the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
This morning the Senate Early Learning & K12 Education Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 3068. SB 3068 expands eligibility to additional students if funds are available for the conditional scholarship after currently qualified students have been accepted. Evergreen has supported the passage of SB 3068 since it was introduced earlier this session.
At the same time, the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean, and Recreation committee held a public hearing on House Bill 2481. HB 2481 provides the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) with the necessary tools and resources to be a viable partner in the emerging biomass industry in Washington. The bill authorizes DNR to maintain a list of all potential sources of forest biomass on state lands for the purposes of making biomass available ot others; allows DNR to enter into biomass contracts for up to 5 years; and authorizes DNR to lease lands for the purpose of biomass.
Evergreen has testified in support of House Bill 2481 as a vehicle by which to stabilize DNR’s viability as a potential partner with the College in our Biomass Gasification Project effort.
In the afternoon, the Senate Ways & Means Committee took action on Senate Bill 6409. SB 6409, which Evergreen supports, creates the Washington Investment in Excellence Account. The Account is funded through state lottery proceeds and directs those funds to a range of research and financial aid programs. In particular the programs eligible to receive funds from the Account include efforts to recruit entrepreneurial researchers, innovation partnership zones, and research teams and higher education financial aid programs including opportunity grants, educational opportunity grants, state work study, GET ready for math and science scholarships, passport to college promise, college bound scholarships, and the Washington promise scholarship.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee amended the bill in executive session. The amendment to the bill makes the following changes:
Today Governor Gregoire signed three bills intended to provide costs savings into law – House Bill 2998, House Bill 2921, and Senate Bill 6382 and the Senate and the House continued their long hours on the floor.
The bills signed by the Governor seek additional state savings by suspending state employee monetary performance-based awards through June 30, 2011; modifying appropriations for 2009-11 (does not impact Evergreen) by reducing approprations by $45.4 million; and continuing the freeze on salary and wage increases for exempt and Washington Management Service (WMS) employees of state agencies and institutions of higher learning is extended through June 30, 2011.
The House and Senate moved more bills forward in the legislative process ranging from greener cleaning products in state facilities to state information systems.
House Bill 2818 requires state agencies to purchase and use cleaning products having properties that minimize potential impacts to human health and the environment. HB 2818 passed with a vote of 73-25. Evergreen supports this bill which carries forth the sustainable practices in place at the College to other state agencies.
Senate Bill 6579 creates the Information Systems Improvement Committee to develop recommendations for improving information technology and systems across state and local governments, and develop an action plan to build consensus and support for the recommendations. A report of the Committee’s work is due September 2011. Sb 6579 passed with a vote of 48-0.
The House and the Senate were focused on moving legislation to the opposite chamber this weekend. Though both chambers only met on Saturday, both moved several pieces of legislation and spent long hours on the floor and in caucus.
Here are some of the highlights from the weekend.
The House took action on bills ranging from teacher preparation to changes to the state loan program. House Bill 2930 passed with a vote of 98-0. HB 2930 directs the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) to give priority in selecting Future Teachers scholarship recipients to those individuals who are seeking specialty endorsements in math as well as individuals who are uniquely qualified to help schools address the achievement gap. Evergreen supported HB 2930 and encouraged, through testimony, the Legislature to consider extending eligibility to individuals seeking endorsements in special education and English Language Learners (ELL). HB 2930 will have a public hearing before the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee on February 19.
House Bill 2481 passed by a vote of 92-0. HB 2481 allows the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to become a viable partner in the area of biomass. In particular the bill:
House Bill 2481, which Evergreen supports, would position DNR to be a potential partner with Evergreen in our effort to realize our Biomass Gasification Project.
The House took the next step towards implementing the state loan program for students. House Bill 2854 establishes student eligibility requirements for the state Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) which was created in statute during the 2009 session. Evergreen testified in support of the bill mirroring the testimony of the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Kenney, which supports first funding financial aid state grants and then providing for a low interest loan option for those students that borrow.
On Saturday, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6130. Senate Bill 6130 temporarily suspends tax-limiting Initiative 960 in its entirety. SB 6130 is the current vehicle for SB 6843 which passed out of the Senate in a close vote late last week.
The movement of the bill indicates the Legislature’s leanings towards raising revenue in the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium.
Senate Bill 6130 now heads to the House floor for further consideration.
Senate Ways & Means Capital Budget Coordinator Brian Sims presented an overview of the current state of Washington’s Capital Budget during Wednesdays’ committee hearing.
The Capital Budget is comprised of $3.3 billion dollars, half of which is money borrowed from investors in the form of bonds and other debt. The budget itself is the smallest of the three state budgets, which also include the large Operating Budget ($58.7 billion) and the Transportation Budget ($6.6 billion).
Sims pointed out during his presentation that the majority of funds disbursed from the Capital Budget go to parties other than state interests. This means that state funds are being used as grants for construction and maintenance of institutions other than the state’s own. Among the funds used to build and maintain state institutions’ interests, funding for public schools has grown the fastest. Most of these funds are not cash, however, and come in the form of bonding authority. Higher Education’s bond funds from the Capital Budget have grown, too, while other funds – including cash – have remained flat for a decade.
As the state deals with a budget crisis, another issue the legislature has to confront is the constitutionally-mandated debt limit. The debt limit, monitored by the State Treasurer, cannot exceed 9% of the average annual general revenue for the preceding three fiscal years. In addition, because the Capital Budget, unlike the Operating Budget, does not have an “ending fund balance,” a margin of 0.25% is set aside as an ending balance. According to Governor’s proposed Capital Budget, that 0.25% ending balance is maintained by cutting $375 million from the budget. The Governor’s budget also proposes an increase in bond spending of $86 million and a transfer of $147 million from the Capital to the Operating Budget, a short-term maneuver to create more liquidity in the Operating Budget.
What does this mean for Evergreen? The college has identified a need for an allocation of $125,000 from the Capital Budget to complete funding for a Biomass Gasification plant. TESC students and the college itself have each generated $125,000 to put toward a feasibility study for the project. As the Capital Budget writing process plays out, the college will be asking legislators to support the sustainable vision for a biomass plant, which would help the college realize its 2020 goal of carbon neutrality while providing synthetic gas to heat and potentially power the institution’s facilities.
A group of Washington State legislators recently toured the Sustainable Prisons Project, a collaboration between Evergreen and the Department of Corrections at Stafford Creek Correctional Center.
The program, co-directed by Dr. Nalina Nadkarni, a member of Evergreen’s faculty and Dan Pacholke, Deputy Director of Prisons for The Washington Department of Corrections, and managed by Jeff Muse, M.S., brings science into prisons by training offenders and staff in sustainable practices.
The program has received national and international praise for its unconventional approach to offender education and its impacts on the economic, environment and human costs of prisons. Sustainable Prisons focuses on green-collar education and training, sustainable operations in prisons, and scientific research and conservation.
Senators Karen Fraser, Debbie Regala and Brian Hatfield and Representative Mary Helen Roberts took a tour of the program’s greenhouses and gardens, recycling and composting facilities, and the prison’s library and living quarters before watching a 7-minute multimedia presentation on the project titled “Connecting Prisons With Nature” (you can watch it here).
The legislators’ hosts highlighted the dynamic benefits of the program. From an economic standpoint, sustainability provides a cost savings; from a scientific one, the program contributes to climate restoration as part of its partnership with Fort Lewis and The Nature Conservancy.
Photo by Benjamin Drummond
Sustainable prisons also partners with Cedar Creek, McNeil Island, and Washington Corrections Center for Women, and activities include beekeeping, frog raising and horticultural education programs.
The next steps for the project including an assessment of their operations so far in the hopes that the successes of the program can become a valuable tool for prisons nationwide.
More information on the Sustainable Prisons Project can be found at the program website.