Senate Release 2010 Proposed Capital Budget

Posted on by

Early this afternoon, the Senate released their proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget.

The Senate’s proposed capital budget places greater reliance on Evergreen’s local funds, including the school trust and a portion of student tuition.

Highlights of the proposed budget are below.

Senate Capital Budget Highlights

  • Reduces appropriations for debt limit bonds by $139 million.
  • The reduction of $139 million is a combination of reducing new appropriations for the 2009-11 biennium by $73 million and the reappropriation authority for projects authorized in the prior biennia by $66 million.
  • Avoids exceeding the 9 percent constitutional debt limit.
  • Captures $48 million in savings for major higher education construction projects from competitive bids received for these projects.
  • Provides $36 million in funding for the replacement of Balmer Hall at the University of Washington.

Details of the Senate proposed 2010 capital budget can be found on the Washington State Legislative Evaluation & Accountability Program Committee Website.

Legislature Week 9: What is Happening

Posted on by

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.

The Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget Protests Budget Cuts During National Day of Action

Posted on by
Reply

Members and supporters of the Olympia Coalition for a Fair Budget, which meets weekly at the Evergreen State College, held a mock funeral for public education yesterday as part of a nationwide day of action centered in California. Students and other community members marched a coffin up the steps of the capitol building, some somber and silent, others wailing and crying. The performance was halted at the doors to the capitol, where State Troopers informed students that they could not bring the large coffin, with the words “RIP Education” written across it, into the capitol building. The group abandoned their coffin, bags and signs at the door and quietly filed into the rotunda, then the Senate gallery.

Once in the gallery the group stood, clad in black funeral garb, as the Senate debated a bill proposing changes to a constitutional bail setting issue. They began humming and then singing a parody of “Amazing Grace,” with lyrics that conveyed the gloom of the dying public higher education system. Lieutenant Governor Brad Owens attempted to silent the group by rapping the gavel and calling on the Sergeant in Arms to remove them. However, the group was permitted to finish their song and filed out peacefully at the end. Following their performance, several members of the Senate applauded, some of them standing to do so.

Following the demonstration, the group convened outside the North entrance of the capitol building to applaud themselves and make plans to testify in the Senate Ways & Means hearing, to be held at 4:30 pm, on a proposed tax of high incomes. Some dozen students were present for the hearing, with around eight testifying in support of the bill. Because the public hearing was announced a mere three hours prior, the bulk of those testifying in support of the bill were those students and community members who had participated in the demonstration and were already on campus. Those opposing the bill included lobbyists for private interest, citizens concerned with already high taxes, and a representative from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, who highlighted the inability of concerned parties to make it to Olympia to testify in the short amount of time provided.

Full video of the gallery performance


(beginning at 1:42:30)

and alumna & student testimony in Ways & Means

(beginning at 39:15)

Senate Ways and Means Hears Income Tax Legislation

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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.

House Looks to Move Operating and Capital Budgets; Revenue Passes House Committee

Posted on by

Overnight the focus of the Washington Legislature has moved from committees to the floor.

The House is expected to take up the operating budget and the capital budget today.

Though the House passed their proposed 2010 supplemental operating budget from committee to the floor late last week (HB 2824), it is the Senate’s proposed budget that will likely be the version voted on in the House.

The House has prepared a bill to strike the language from the Senate’s proposed 2010 operating budget (SB 6444) and include the House’s proposed operating budget language. As a result the House will effectively pass their proposed operating budget using SB 6444 as the vehicle.

This will force the bill to go to conference between the Senate and the House because it is unlikely that the Senate will agree to the changes the House will make on the floor when it votes on SB 6444.

The House will vote on its proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget as soon as today (HB 2836) . The Senate has yet to release a proposed 2010 supplemental capital budget.

Finally, the House Finance Committee held a public hearing and moved the House’s revenue package (HB 3191) out of committee and to the House floor.

More Bills Move Forward in Process

Posted on by

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. 

House Releases Revenue Package

Posted on by

This afternoon the House released their proposed 2010 supplemental revenue package.

The House’s revenue package generates $758 million in new revenue for the remainder of the 2009-11 biennium and anticipates another $100 million to be generated from anticipated budget actions this session.

The House’s package resembles both the Governor and Senate’s proposed package. All three include closing tax loophooles and increases in sin taxes and both the House and Senate include savings from legislation to be enacted this session.

The largest difference among the revenue packages proposed is either the presence or absence of a sales tax. The Senate revenue package is the only one that includes a temporary increase in the sales tax.

Highlights of the House’s revenue package are below.

Highlights of Revenue Package

  • Narrows or eliminates numerous current tax preferences or “tax loopholes” ($385.31 million).
  • Removes sales tax exemptions for bottled water, elective cosmetic surgery, candy & gum, custom software, and janitorial services ($163.2million).
  • The cigarette tax is increased by $1 per package and taxes on other tobacco products are equalized ($111.6 million)
  • Increases taxes by 0.5% on lawyers, accountants, agends, marketing and management consultants ($21.7 million).
  • Repeals exemptions on investment earlings for nonfinancial firms ($58 million).
  • Implements savings from the Convention Center Tax Recovery (HB 3027) ($10.1 million)
  • Limits exemption to the wind M&E ($7.8 million)
  • Restores the PUD privilege tax to original legislative intent ($1.2 million).
  • Implements SB 6409 ($30 million)
  • Transfers funds from the captal budget ($70 million).

Details on the House’s proposed revenue package can be found on the House Democratic Caucus website.  

A public hearing on the revenue package (HB 3191) is scheduled for tomorrow, March 2, at 9:00 a.m. before the House Finance Committee.