House, Senate on the floor as session reaches halfway mark
The 2022 legislative session on Tuesday reached its halfway point. Members of the House and Senate have been on the floor debating and voting on bills since Monday's fiscal committee cutoff. They have until Feb. 15's House of Origin cutoff dates to move bills out of their originating chambers for the bills to continue in the legislative process.
The Senate Wednesday confirmed Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney's appointment to the State Board.
"She has been a stalwart for the community [and technical] college system throughout her entire career," Sen. David Frockt said.
Ways and Means hears system-requested basic education bill, apprenticeship financial aid, public loan forgiveness bills
Feb. 4 — The Senate Ways and Means Committee kicked off its weekend last Friday with a six and a half hour hearing. For the community and technical college system, committee members heard the bills that would add the estimated number of full-time students who will enroll in Basic Education for Adults programs to the state's caseload forecast — the system’s requested bill — expand the Washington College Grant maximum award for apprenticeships and provide information on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Arlen Harris, the State Board’s legislative director, spoke in favor of the three bills.
“In essence, this bill is a discussion about the approximately 500,000 adults in Washington state. The do not have a high school diploma, GED®, or equivalency,” he said of SB 5771, the system’s requested bill. “This is so very timely as the pandemic has been difficult on all of us, but those of us with trade certificates, those of us with skills from state apprenticeships similar to what we heard with bills earlier, or a degree have mostly been able to continue working. Those without basic skills have not fared as well.”
Basic education, he continued, can help people as they look for family-wage employment.
On SSB 5764, the bill that would increase the Washington College Grant maximum award, Harris told the committee that staff at the State Board have been working on an amendment that would expand research into practices and approaches to apprenticeship programs.
“[We want] to see what's happening elsewhere that can be applied to our state,” he said.
Finally, testifying on SSB 5847, the bill that would require information to be shared on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Harris reminded committee members that to be considered for the program, people will have had to pay on their loans for 10 years without missing a payment.
“In our sector, many of our faculty have master's degrees in their fields, and most deans and individuals in upper administration have PhDs and have sizable student loan debt,” he said. “I think this is a good opportunity to make sure that they are informed of after 10 years of service and on-time payments that they can qualify for this program.”
Bill status roundup
The bills listed below have been featured in this year's Legislative News. This bill status is as of noon Friday.
| Bill number | Bill title | Bill status |
|---|---|---|
| HB 1659 | Making higher education more affordable and accessible for students by bridging the gap between cost and need to reduce barriers, improve opportunity, and advance economic security |
Jan. 4: Passed House Appropriations Committee Feb. 7: Referred to Rules 2 Review |
| HB 1687 | Enhancing the college bound scholarship program by increasing opportunities for students to attend community and technical colleges |
Jan. 20: Passed House College and Workforce Development Committee Feb. 10: Placed on second reading |
| HB 1751 | Concerning hazing prevention and reduction at institutions of higher education |
Feb. 3: Passed House Appropriations Committee Feb. 7: Referred to Rules 2 Review |
| HB 1760 | Expanding access to dual credit programs |
Feb. 5: Passed House Appropriations Committee Feb. 10: Placed on second reading |
| HB 1781/SB 5651 | Concerning the capital budget | Jan. 11: Public hearing in House Capital Budget Committee |
| HB 1816/SB 5693 | Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations | Jan. 10: Public hearing in House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 1835 | Creating outreach and completion initiatives to increase postsecondary enrollment |
Feb. 4: Passed House Appropriations Committee Feb. 10: Placed on second reading |
| HB 1840 | Improving diversity, equity, and mental health at the community and technical colleges |
Jan. 27: Passed House College and Workforce Development Committee Jan. 31: Referred to House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 1861 | Creating the Washington future fund trust fund program |
Jan. 27: Passed House Housing, Human Services and Veterans Committee Jan. 31: Referred to House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 1872 | Establishing the care worker center to promote caregiving professions |
Jan. 26: Passed House College and Workforce Development Committee Jan. 27: Referred to House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 2019 | Increasing educational and training opportunities for careers in retail |
Feb. 2: Passed House 94-2 Feb. 7: Referred to Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee |
| HB 2055 | Providing capital budget matching grants to independent higher education institutions |
Feb. 7: Passed House Capital Budget Committee; referred to Rules 2 |
| SB 5600 | Concerning the sustainability and expansion of state registered apprenticeship programs |
Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 9: Placed on second reading |
| SB 5651/HB 1781 | Concerning the capital budget | Jan. 13: Public hearing in Senate Ways and Means Committee |
| SB 5693/HB 1816 | Making 2021-2023 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations | Jan. 11: Public Hearing in Senate Ways and Means Committee |
| SB 5692 | Concerning programming at the department of corrections |
Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 9: Placed on second reading |
| SB 5719 | Concerning dual credit costs |
Jan. 21: Passed Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee Jan. 24: Referred to Senate Ways & Means Committee |
| SB 5764 | Concerning apprenticeships and higher education | Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee |
| SB 5771 | Including certain residents who do not have a high school diploma or credential and the number of students expected to enroll in basic education for adults courses at community and technical colleges in caseload forecast council forecasting |
Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 10: Passed Senate 49-0 |
| SB 5789 | Creating the Washington career and college pathways innovation challenge program |
Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 9: Placed on second reading |
| SB 5847 | Providing information to public service employees about the public service loan forgiveness program |
Feb. 7: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 10: Passed Senate 37-12 |
Coming up next week
Session on Tuesday will reach its House of Origin cutoff, the deadline when bills that started in the House or Senate needed to be voted on by members of the entire chamber. Bills that do not receive a vote or failed to pass, unless a necessary part of the budget, will not move on in the legislative process for the 2022 session.
Committees will resume their work Wednesday hearing bills that passed the opposite chamber.
