Late this afternoon, the Senate passed HB 3178 with a vote of 47-0.
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 bill was amended on the floor to remove all provisions related to the freeze on information technology spending.
HB 3178 now goes back to the House for concurrence.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee met for a better part of today to hear several bills and take action on several more.
Of great significance for Evergreen was action taken to move forward the Senate’s 2010 proposed Capital Budget (SB 6364). SSB 6364 was amended in committee, by Senator Fraser, to appropriate $125,000 to Evergreen to complete a feasibility study on the College’s Biomass Gasification Project.
In addition, the Senate’s proposed capital budget:
The Committee also took action on House Bill 3178– Information Technology. 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 Senate Committee removed the language in the House version of HB 3178 and replaced it with language that primarily reflects the House bill but with the following changes:
In addition to the replacing the language in the bill, the Committee also adopted two amendments to the bill: (1) A null and void clause added which would repeal the language in the bill if no dollars are appropriated for the bill and (2) Removes language referring to the pilot project.
Both Senate Bill 6364 and House Bill 3178 go to the Senate floor for further consideration.
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:
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:
The bills now goes to the House for concurrence.
The House Ways & Means Committee met Saturday to hear a variety of bills and take action on several more.
The deadline for the Committee to consider Senate bills with a fiscal impact is end of day Monday, March 1.
The committee focused on two bills of interest to Evergreen – Senate Bill 6696 and House Bill 3178.
A public hearing was held on Senate Bill 6696. 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 Council of Presidents testified to their overall support for the bill and expressed concerns with an amendment included in the bill during executive action in the House Education Committee.
The amendment would require 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 specifies that programs are subject to degree and certificate program approval procedures by the SBCTC, HECB, and PESB.
The Council of Presidents stated that public baccalaurete institutions have extensive partnerships with community colleges to deliver bachelor’s degree programs on their campuses. Currently, four-year public institutions offer bachelor’s degrees at 24 of the 34 community and technical colleges. The concern expressed by the Council pertains to the authorization in the bill to develop and award bachelor’s degrees leading to a “baccalaureate degree with a residency teaching certificate” and “endorsement in a subject matter shortage area” means community colleges would offer academic bachelor’s in subjects such as math and science. This policy change was not discussed as part of the year-long System Design Plan nor in either the education or higher education policy committee in the House.
The Committee did not approve the amendment. Senate Bill 6696 passed out of committee and to the House floor for further consideration.
The Committee also took action on House Bill 3178. HB 3178 makes several policy changes that impact the Department of Information Services as well as state agency IT services and programs. The Committee movd the bill out of committee and to the House floor for further consideration.
House and Senate policy committees returned to their committee work with a vengeance today.
Several bills of interest to Evergreen were heard by legislative committees. None of the bills listed below were moved out of committee today.
Washington House
The House Education Committee held public hearings on several bills related to improving basic education in Washington. In particular, the Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6696. Senate Bill 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 House Higher Education Committee held public hearings on two bills of interest to Evergreen. Senate Bill 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 Committee also heard Senate Bill 6357. SB 6357 requires The College Board in consultation with the four-year sector, workforce training and education board, private career schools, business, and labor to develop 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.
In the afternoon the House Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on House Bill 3178. HB 3178 makes several policy changes that impact the Department of Information Services as well as state agency IT services and programs. In particular, the bill:
The Council of Presidents is working with the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Carlyle, and leadership in the House to exempt higher education from the bill.
Later in the day, the Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee held a public hearing on three bills Evergreen has tracked. House Bill 2858, intitiated by the four-year, public institutions, provides institutions of higher education the authority to participate in group purchasing agreements.House Bill 2973 includes, in the definition of “resident student,” a student who resides in Washington and is on active military duty stationed in one of nine Oregon border counties. In addition, the bill adds a student who resides in Washington and is the spouse or dependent of a person who resides in Washington and is on active military duty stationed in an Oregon border county to the definition of “resident student.”
Finally, House Bill 2638 provides a specialized-format version of instructional material may not require that the student return the specialized-format version.