House and Senate budget writers released their versions of the operating budget over the weekend, holding hearings Monday. Capital budget writers also released their versions of that budget Monday, followed by public hearings on Tuesday.

Also this week, the 2026 legislative session marked another cutoff deadline on Wednesday when bills from the opposite chamber needed to be voted out of those policy committees to continue in the legislative process.

Operating budgets released

House and Senate operating budget writers released their versions of the supplemental budget over the weekend and held hearings Monday afternoon. Both budgets include a reduction in the Running Start FTE from 1.4 to 1.2, effective academic year 2026-27. Additionally, both continue the compensation fund split for staff and faculty wages and benefits, totaling an estimated $27.5 million in cuts across the system.

The House version of the budget also includes:

  • Elimination of funding for all industry-specific Centers of Excellence starting fiscal year 2027
  • Requirement for the State Board to make recommendations for the reduction of at least one institution in the system, and recommendations for consolidation that may reduce redundancy and expenses that do not directly correlate to student success

Feb. 23 — Nate Humphrey, executive director for the State Board, and Ivan Harrell, president of Tacoma Community College, shared concerns on the House supplemental budget during testimony in the House Appropriations Committee Monday.

“While an improvement over the Governor’s budget, this proposal raises serious concerns for our colleges and, most importantly, our students. The budget continues the compensation fund split, shifting costs to inadequate and statutorily limited tuition funds, an estimated $27.5 million cut to our system,” Humphrey said. After noting opposition to the Running Start FTE reduction, he added, “Finally… the direction in the budget that recommends the system look at reductions and consolidation, we’ve done this analysis before-look at our 2011 efficiency work that cautioned that consolidation could create significant ongoing costs for the state, particularly through the need to reconcile local labor contracts.”

Harrell noted impacts of the proposed budget at Tacoma Community College.

“At TCC, this means a projected budget shortfall of nearly $2.5 million and does not capture all inflationary costs,” Harrell said. “TCC is no different than sister institutions. We have cut, and we found efficiencies, but we’re at our limit. Community and technical colleges are Washington’s workforce engine. Every dollar you cut from us is a dollar cut from the state’s economic future.”

Humphrey and Harrell provided similar testimony on the Senate’s proposed budget in the Senate Ways and Means Committee the same day.

Capital budgets released

Feb. 24 — The House and Senate released their versions of the capital budget Monday, holding hearings during Tuesday’s House Capital Budget Committee and Senate Ways and Means Committee hearings.

Both budget proposals include investments in decarbonization projects for State Board administered grant programs to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The House version included an additional $51 million in Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funding to decarbonize central plants at Seattle Central, North Seattle, and Clark colleges. Both proposals also included alternative financing authority for Lower Columbia College’s Dave Story Field and Spokane Community College’s main building renovation. Notably, the Senate proposal includes $5 million for Cascadia College’s Cascadia Gateway CC5 building, while the House proposal has higher funding levels for decarbonization projects.

Eric Murray, president at Cascadia College, testified on the system’s request for funding for Cascadia College’s CC5 building, the top request for the State Board’s major projects capital budget prioritized list.

Darrell Jennings, capital budget director for the State Board, thanked members of the House Capital Budget Committee for funding decarbonization projects in the system, but urged members to match the funding level for Cascadia College’s CC5 building funded in the Senate budget.

Similar testimony was shared by both Murray and Arlen Harris, legislative director at the State Board, during public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee the same day.

Part-time and adjunct faculty compensation work session, fund-split testimony in House higher education committee

Feb. 24 — The House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee held a work session Tuesday to learn more about adjunct and part-time faculty pay in the community and technical college system.

Julie Huss, human resources director at the State Board, provided history and data on salaries for adjunct and part-time faculty in the college system.

“Salary schedules and rates are set at each local bargaining table,” she said. “The Washington State Legislature has provided specific funding to increase adjunct faculty salaries. However, specific funding for this purpose has not been provided since fiscal year 2009.”

“Colleges and their labor partners have worked to increase adjunct pay through local bargaining by implementing things such as step progression, leveling processes, and additional things. There has been progress in this area, but without specific financial investments to our colleges, colleges continue to find themselves in stretched fiscal environments,” she said.

Feb. 25—The House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee held a courtesy public hearing for HB 2617, sponsored by Rep. Gerry Pollet, which would require the state to fully fund compensation at institutions for higher education.

Arlen Harris, legislative director at the State Board, testified in support.

“Fully funding compensation is essential for our operations,” he said. “Our faculty and staff are on the front lines doing this critical work, and we must support our faculty and our staff.”

Amy Morrison, president at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, also testified in support.

“This is not a peripheral issue. It is a core component to the chronic under-funding of community and technical colleges,” she said. “I have had the honor of working in the community and technical colleges for 27 years for our system at three different colleges. I can only recall two out of those 27 years when we were not preparing to and-or cutting budgets.”

Coming up next week

House and Senate fiscal committees will work over the weekend, hearing bills with a monetary impact. Their cutoff is Monday, when bills need to be voted out of those committees to continue in the legislative process. Representatives and senators will spend the rest of the week debating and voting on bills until Friday, when bills from the opposing chamber need to be approved to continue to the next step in the process.