Committee work continues in week before second policy cutoff date

Committee work continued at a fast pace this week as the next policy cutoff date arrives Wednesday, April 1. Community and technical college system request bills on fee waivers, streamlining statutes and corrections all received hearings. The House operating and capital budget proposals were released today at 11:30 a.m. with hearings scheduled for Monday, March 30. Details will be provided in next week’s edition.

Tuition reduction bills heard in House Higher Education committee

March 26 — Bills to reduce student tuition and find dedicated funding for higher education received public testimony before the House Higher Education Committee.

ESSB 5954 would tie resident undergraduate tuition to a percent of the state’s average wage for all public colleges and universities. The percentages vary depending on whether the college is a community or technical college, a regional university or a research university.

With a cap of 6 percent of the state’s average wage, the community and technical college system would lose about $7 million per year.

The Legislature would also be required to keep, at a minimum, the allocations provided in the 2013-15 operating budget, plus additional funding to backfill any reductions in tuition revenue.

The second bill heard, HB 2201, would place tax revenue collected on financial institutions’ investments or loans into a fund to backfill any tuition reductions in the 2015-17 operating budget. The proposal would be sent to voters as a referendum.

Marty Brown, SBCTC executive director, testified with concerns on both bills.

“We share the anxiety legislators and students have about high tuition and student debt, and respect the Legislature’s efforts to hold tuition study. But we can’t maintain the quality for our nearly 400,000 students with no additional state funds if tuition is held constant or reduced,” he said.

Link to testimony (starts at 68:19)

Corrections education focus of Senate committee hearing

March 24 — A wide array of people testified before the Senate Law and Justice Committee in favor of HB 1704, which would allow the Department of Corrections to use existing funds to offer associate degrees in prisons. Three community college representatives appeared before the committee to voice their support.

Luke Robins, Peninsula College president, pointed out that education helps offenders find jobs, re-enter society and avoid returning to a life of crime. For every dollar invested in prison education, taxpayers save $20, he said.

Sarah Sytsma, Tacoma Community College director of correctional education, discussed how education turns prisoners’ lives around. “Seeing how transformative postsecondary education is to offenders is truly inspiring,” she said. “Classrooms that encourage discussion and critical thinking are key places to promote civil behavior and will lead to long-term safety in our communities.”

David Murley, Spokane Community College dean of corrections education, said he sees the value of prison education despite being a “staunch conservative.”

“The question isn’t ‘why do we pay for this?’ We’re going to have to pay for them for the rest of their lives if we don’t do this.”

John Carlisle of Allegiance Staffing testified from a business perspective. “Having a skilled worker come into our office is very important. It gives them a trajectory. They can see the vision. They can see where they’re going in their life as opposed to a dead end job,” he said.

Link to testimony (starts at 1:15:47)

Senate committee hears system request bill, votes on system supported bills

March 24 — The Senate Higher Education Committee heard the community and technical college system-request bill on cleaning up statues related to the colleges (HB 1961). Alison Grazzini, SBCTC legislative director, testified in favor of the bill.

“[It] expires old statutes, it cleans up provisions when technical colleges joined our college system in the early ‘90s, it adds technical colleges to existing provisions, and provides general cleanup to make things read a little easier,” she said.

The committee later voted on appointments and bills advancing them to the next step in the legislative process:

·         Merisa T Heu-Weller, Bellevue College Board of Trustees

·         Douglass Jackson, Shoreline Community College Board of Trustees

·         Megan S O'Bryan, Skagit Valley College Board of Trustees

·         SHB 1052: Requiring institutions of higher education to make an early registration process available to spouses and domestic partners of active members of the military.

·         HB 1706: Authorizing waivers of building fees and services and activities fees for certain military service members.

Link to testimony (starts at 1:15:18)

House committee hears sexual violence prevention bills and fee waiver bill

March 24 — Three bills of interest to the community and technical college system were heard Tuesday by the House Higher Education Committee. Two — SSB 5518 and SSB 5719 — address campus sexual violence and prevention. The third bill, supported by community and technical college system, would waive building and activities fees for active duty members of the military (SB 5620).

Joe Holliday, SBCTC director student services, testified in favor of SSB 5518 and SSB 5719, taking the opportunity to remind committee members of the uniqueness of community and technical colleges.

“We appreciate how the bill is more closely aligned with federal requirements, as we testified in the Senate,” Holliday said of SSB 5518. “We are literally awash in federal requirements both legislative and executive and trying our best to keep up with those so we are very appreciative that the bill is seeking to be aligned with federal requirements.”

Community and technical colleges are already working to implement a model student conduct code and developing procedures and connecting students with resources, which SSB 5518 would require colleges to do. The bill would also require the 34 colleges to conduct a campus climate survey of employees and students and develop memoranda of understanding with local law enforcement agencies.

SSB 5719 would create a taskforce on sexual violence prevention. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges would participate in the taskforce along with the state’s other colleges and universities, the Washington Student Achievement Council, the Council of Presidents, law enforcement and the attorney general’s office.

“Community and technical colleges’ environments are fundamentally different than university environments,” Holliday said while testifying on SSB 5719. “We’re happy to see our representation on the taskforce. We’d like to see identified best practices in non-residential campuses, [and] best practices involving adjunct faculty as supporters.”

Committee members also heard from Nick Lutes, SBCTC’s operating budget director, who testified in favor of SB 5620.

“It’s a very important bill for a number of current active duty members who are receiving tuition assistance on our campuses who would come the next semester or next quarter and find that they have an extra $200 on their bill,” Lutes said.

Link to testimony

·         Holliday on SSB 5518 starts at 29:49

·         Holliday on SSB 5719 starts at 45:53

·         Lutes on SB 5620 starts at 50:36

Dual credit bill heard in Senate education committee

March 23 — Marty Brown, SBCTC executive director, testified Monday before the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee on dual credit opportunities for high school-aged students (E2SHB 1546). He expressed the community and technical college system’s support of Running Start and College in the High School, which provide 11^th and 12^th graders a chance to earn high school and college credit at the same time.

“Dual credit is a very valuable tool for access to higher education in our state,” Brown said. “We urge you to expand it and at the same time continue the rigor that is needed while returning programs to their original intents.”

The community and technical college system in the 2013-14 academic year saw more than 20,000 high school juniors and seniors taking classes through Running Start. Nearly 4,000 high school students were served by six community and technical colleges through College in the High School programs.

The bill with amendments passed the committee Tuesday and is now waiting a hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The amended version allows a program called “Running Start in the High School” to be offered only at high schools that are 30 miles away from institutions of higher education, which already offer dual-credit programs in high schools and on college campuses.

Link to testimony (starts at 1:14:28)

Coming up next week

Next week, policy committees wrap up their work on bills by the Wednesday cutoff date. Policy bills must be voted out of those committees in order to continue in the legislative process. The House operating and capital budget proposals are scheduled for public hearings on Monday and voted out on Tuesday.

Committees start work again hearing opposite chamber bills

House and Senate committees picked up the pace on hearings after last week’s chamber cutoff date. House committees now hear bills that passed the Senate, and Senate committees now hear bills that passed the House. Community and technical college system request bills on streamlining statutes and waiving fees for active duty military both received hearings.

Senate committee hears bills on veteran-spouse registration and fees

March 19 — The Senate Higher Education Committee heard testimony on HB 1052, which would require colleges and universities to offer early registration to spouses and domestic partners of active duty service members. Scott Copeland, SBCTC student affairs policy associate, testified in favor of the measure.

“With a lot of the benefits, there is a limited timeframe and you must take the courses that apply to your [certificate or degree]. This would not be a big impact at all and it makes the most sense,” he said.

Nick Lutes, SBCTC operating budget director, testified in favor of HB 1706, which would grant permissive waivers for building and student activity fees for active duty military. The system request bill would remove a financial burden on service members who, under Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Program rules, must now pay out-of-pocket for non-tuition expenses.

Link to testimony

·         Copeland starts at 1:09:32

·         Lutes starts at 1:17

Minimum credit hours for aid, resident requirements receive House Higher Education hearing

March 18 — Currently, students may take as little as three credit hours per quarter (or the semester equivalent) to receive or renew State Need Grants. Already in effect under the budget, this threshold would become permanent under SB 5638. Scott Copeland, SBCTC student affairs policy associate, testified in favor of the measure.

“Life gets in the way sometimes and this allows [students] to keep the momentum going,” he said.

The committee moved onto SSB 5355, which would modify the definition of resident student to comply with federal requirements established by the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. Copeland testified in favor of the measure.

Link to testimony

·         SB 5638 starts at 45:54

·         SSB 5355 starts at 50:40

Senate Higher Education Committee hears budget detail bill

March 17 — Alison Grazzini, SBCTC legislative director, shared concerns about HB 1893 before the Senate Higher Education Committee. The bill would require all of Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges to post online detailed budget information about non-state appropriated funds, including ending fund balances. 

“As you know, our system of 34 colleges has always supported transparency in a variety of ways,” Grazzini said. “This information is already posted on our website and is available going years back. On students’ tuition statements we provide, by college, all sources of revenue and how those funds are spent. The work under this bill is new, it is real, and it has significant impact to our college staff.”

Link to testimony (begins at 43:45)

House committee hears Senate version of regulation cleanup bill

March 17 — Alison Grazzini testified before the House Higher Education Committee Tuesday in support of SB 5977. The community and technical college system request bill would clean up statutes related to the colleges. It also expires old bonds, defunded programs, pilots and waivers.

“It’s a good cleanup bill,” Grazzini said.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate March 4. Its companion, HB 1961, unanimously passed the House March 2.

Link to testimony (begins at 1:52:26)

Coming up next week

Next week, the Senate Law and Justice Committee will hear the community and technical college system request bill on corrections education (HB 1704). Bills waiving fees for active duty military members and streamlining statutes related to the colleges are scheduled for committee hearings and votes.

Session reaches halfway point – floor-vote cutoff nears

Thursday, March 5 marked the halfway point of this 105-day session and the next cutoff date is just around the corner. Bills must be voted out of their originating chamber by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 to move forward in the legislative process. The only exemptions are budget bills and bills considered "necessary to implement the budget."  

Along with higher education bills, the House and Senate have taken votes on sweeping measures with a statewide impact. The Senate approved a broad transportation package, while the House approved legislation to increase the minimum wage and expand paid sick leave requirements to more businesses. 

House, Senate pass community and technical college-request bills

At the time this blog was posted, the following community and technical college-request bills were making their way through the Legislative process:

Fee waiver for active duty military

HB 1706, prime-sponsored by Rep. Derek Stanford (D-Bothell), passed the House on a unanimous vote Monday (97-0-1). The bill and its companion SB 5620 (passed the Senate 49-0), prime-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Bailey (R-Oak Harbor), would grant permissive waivers for building and student activity fees for active duty military. Due to a recent change to the Department of Defense’s Tuition Assistance Program, only tuition is covered for students, but not the associated fees. Students using the assistance program to attend college need to make up the difference in costs.

Statutory clean-up

HB 1961, prime-sponsored by Rep. Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup), passed the house unanimously Monday (97-0-1). The bill’s Senate companion, SB 5977, prime-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Bailey (R-Oak Harbor), passed that chamber on a unanimous vote Wednesday (49-0). The bills would expire old bonds, defund programs, pilots, and waivers within the community and technical college system to improve efficiency and streamline provisions within state statutes.

Corrections education

HB 1704, prime-sponsored by Rep. Eric Pettigrew (D-Seattle), is on the House Floor Calendar awaiting a vote. The bill would allow community and technical colleges to provide associate degrees in corrections institutions. Currently, CTCs partner with the Department of Corrections to provide basic skills and vocational training to help offenders be job-ready when they re-enter society. The bill has no fiscal impact as this work will be part of the existing educational contract.

Other bills important to the community and technical college system are also moving through the legislative process:

·         Campus safety provisions (SB 5518)

·         State Need Grant eligibility for less-than-half-time students (SB 5638)

·         Amending the definition of resident student for veteran benefits (HB 1825/SB 5355)

More details are available in our latest Bill Watch List.

Coming up this week

Committee hearings on bills related to higher education will take a temporary hiatus in the beginning of this week as the House and Senate focus on floor voting in time for the Wednesday, March 11 cutoff. Committees may resume hearings on higher education bills, although the committee agendas are still in flux.

Fiscal cutoff date winnows down bills

House and Senate committees continued to hear public testimony last week as the Legislature prepared for a Feb. 27 cutoff date for bills to pass fiscal committees. Several system request bills remain standing as the Legislature now turns its attention to working on a state budget and passing bills off the House and Senate floors.   

House Appropriations hears corrections education bill

Feb. 25 — The House Appropriations Committee took testimony on a system-request bill to allow community and technical colleges to provide associate degrees in correctional institutions (HB 1704). This would be done within existing funds through an ongoing contract with the Department of Corrections (DOC).

Brian Walsh, SBCTC policy associate for corrections education, testified in favor of the bill. He noted three fiscal benefits:

·         Education would be delivered within existing funds. The bill has no fiscal impact.

·         Corrections education would deliver positive financial impact to the state, bringing in $23,000 annually in taxpayer and societal benefits and a return on investment of more than $20 for every dollar spent.

·         An educated workforce is critical to meeting growing demands from employers. Corrections education would give offenders reentering communities the skills they need to find sustainable employment while reducing post-incarceration costs and chances of that person reoffending.

Testimony starts at 4:25:00

Veterans, compensation, dual-credit bills heard in House Appropriations

Feb. 24 — About 20 bills received public testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, including bills on veterans residency, faculty increments and dual-credit programs.

SHB 1825 would modify the definition of resident student to comply with federal requirements established by the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014. Scott Copeland, SBCTC student services policy associated, testified in favor of the measure, explaining that it would ensure veterans and eligible spouses continue to receive educational benefits.

HB 1863 would require community and technical colleges to pay for negotiated step increases — up to a certain amount — even if the Legislature doesn’t provide funding. Colleges would be authorized to use local funds for the increases, up to 1.2 percent of each college’s faculty salary base.

Marty Brown, SBCTC executive director, recognized the need for step increases and expressed appreciation for the proposed cap on increment spending. However, he said the state should take responsibility for fully funding those increases.

“The community and technical college system has requested, and continues to request, state funding [for] these increments, but we have not gotten them for the past six years,” he said.

Brown said the governor’s budget proposal would complicate matters by under-funding faculty and staff salary increases and using tuition revenues to pay for the $28 million balance. 

“Faculty and staff salaries and increments are our system’s top priority, but we cannot manage increments and salary increases without general fund dollars from the state,” he said.

Colleges and faculty representatives are continuing to work on an equitable and predictable solution for funding STEP increases, he said.

Testifying in favor of the measure were Wendy Rader-Konofalski and Bernal Baca, government liaisons for the Washington Education Association and American Federation of Teachers Washington respectively.

SHB 1546 would allow tenth graders to participate in College in the High School and Running Start – two separate dual-credit programs now offered only to juniors and seniors – and waive fees for low-income students. College in the High School is offered in high school; Running Start is offered on college campuses.

Over the next several years, it would also phase out a newer hybrid approach offered by two universities. It’s named “Running Start in the High School.” Like the original College in the High School program, the program takes place in high schools, is tuition-free, and charges students a fee to help offset costs. The difference is that the program also draws funds through the Running Start program.

The bill aims to ensure that Running Start remains a college-based program and to standardize the funding sources for dual-credit programs.

Marty Brown, SBCTC executive director, expressed concern that the substitute bill would delay legislative action on Running Start in the High School by phasing the program out over two years.

“We strongly support dual credit programs. As a matter of fact, in 2013-14 our colleges’ Running Start programs allowed 20,100 11^th- and 12^th-grade students to take college courses, earning both high school and college credit. And nearly 4,000 students were served by our college in the high school programs, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. We supported the original bill but we have concerns about the substitute. The bill should be clear that Running Start is a program on college campuses and college in the high school is exactly that: in the high school. Institutions should not be receiving Running Start money for providing college in the high school merely by calling it Running Start.”

Link to testimony

·         Copeland starts at 34:04

·         Brown starts at 1:08:12 (increments) and at 2:01:35 (dual-credit)

Bill update

After Friday’s fiscal committee cutoff, here are the system request bills still in play:

HB 1704 (Pettigrew) — Allows community and technical colleges to provide associate degrees in corrections institutions within existing funds through an ongoing contract with the Department of Corrections. This bill has been referred to the Rules Committee.

HB 1705 (Haler)/SB 5619 (Bailey) — Ties Basic Education for Adults program funding to a caseload model. These bills did not pass their respective fiscal committees before the cutoff date.

HB 1706 (Stanford)/SB 5620 (Bailey) — Grants permissive waivers for building and student and activity fees for active duty military. These bills have been referred to the Rules Committees.

HB 1961 (Zeiger)/SB 5977 (Bailey) — streamlines statutes governing the community and technical college system by expiring old bonds, defunded programs, pilots, and waivers. These bills have been referred to the Rules Committees.

Coming up next week

Next week, floor action begins in earnest as members of the House and Senate debate and vote on bills to send to the opposite chamber. Legislators have until March 11 to pass bills out of their originating house for them to continue in the legislative process.