Second cutoff deadline passes as session reaches halfway point
The 2020 legislative session passed its halfway mark Tuesday, as fiscal committees reached their deadline for passing bills out of committee. The House and Senate used the remainder of the week for floor action, debating and voting bills ahead of the Feb. 19 floor cutoff date.
Employee housing bill advances from capital budget committee
Jan. 10 — The House Capital Budget Committee Monday took up HB 2382, the bill that would create a state policy supporting affordable housing for community and technical college faculty and employees and permit a community or technical college to operate housing capital projects. This was the committee’s only hearing ahead of Tuesday’s fiscal committee cutoff deadline.
Amy Morrison, president of Lake Washington Institute of Technology, spoke to how employees cannot afford housing in the area around the college. Over 50 percent of employees commute, she said, with many commuting one to two hours each direction.
“This legislation would be very helpful to our colleges who are considering housing as a tool for recruitment and retention,” she said.
Lake Washington is working with Bellevue College on employee housing options, including a partnership with Microsoft. The bill would help support relationships such as that.
“Ultimately, the prospect of building affordable housing close to our colleges will allow us to more effectively recruit and retain talented faculty and staff who serve our hardworking students. Our students, after all, are among the talented Washingtonians that our economy so desperately needs,” Morrison said.
The bill passed the committee later that hearing on a party-line vote. It was heard in the Jan. 21 House College and Workforce Development Committee, passing that committee Jan. 29.
Faculty staffing study bill passes Senate Ways and Means Committee
Jan. 10 — The Senate Ways and Means Committee held Monday the first of two marathon hearings this week, taking up SB 6405, a bill which would require the State Board to create and implement a plan resulting in 70 percent of the faculty employed at community and technical colleges to be full-time tenured or tenure tracked by the end of the 2027-28 school year. The bill would also require part-time faculty receive equal pay for equal work and defining that amount to be 85 percent of full-time faculty pay.
John Boesenberg, deputy executive director for business operations at the State Board, testified on behalf of the college system. He expressed support for the policy behind the bill and concerns with the approach.
“We believe it undermines the local collective bargaining process and is a one size fits all approach that doesn't consider when and where students can access their learning opportunities offered by our colleges,” he said.
The Ways and Means Committee passed a substitute version of the bill at its hearing Feb. 11. Subject to an appropriation, that version requires the State Board to work with the colleges to develop individual and system plans to increase the number of full time faculty on campuses.
Bill status roundup
The bills listed below have been featured in this year's Legislative News. This status is as of noon Friday. Bills that have not advanced out of their house of origin policy or fiscal committees will not continue in the legislative process.
| Bill number | Bill title | Bill status |
|---|---|---|
| HB 1084 | Concerning unfair practices involving compensation of athletes in higher education |
Feb. 10: Public hearing in House Appropriations Committee Feb. 11: Passed House Appropriations Committee. Referred to Rules. |
| HB 2299/SB 6576 | Creating prison to postsecondary education pathways | Feb. 11: Placed on second reading |
| HB 2324/SB 6248 | Concerning the capital budget | Jan. 14: Public hearing in House Capital Budget Committee |
| HB 2325/SB 6168 | Making 2019-2021 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations | Jan. 13: Public hearing in House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 2327 | Addressing sexual misconduct at postsecondary educational institutions | Feb. 13: Passed House 94-4 |
| HB 2382 | Concerning housing for community and technical college faculty and employees |
Feb. 10: Public hearing and passed House Capital Budget Committee Feb. 11: Referred to Rules |
| HB 2468 | Improving the effectiveness and adequacy of the workforce education investment surcharge by decreasing compliance and administrative burdens for taxpayers and the department of revenue | Jan. 23: Public hearing in House Finance Committee |
| HB 2513/SB 6140 | Prohibiting the practice of transcript withholding and limiting the practice of registration holds at institutions of higher education as debt collection practices |
Feb. 8: Public hearing in House Appropriations Committee Feb. 10: Passed House Appropriations Committee Feb. 11: Referred to Rules |
| HB 2523/SB 6141 | Expanding access to higher education | Feb. 7: Referred to House Appropriations Committee |
| HB 2542 | Concerning tuition waivers for children of eligible veterans |
Feb. 13: Passed House 98-0 |
| HB 2574 | Reducing administrative staffing at institutions of higher education | Jan. 28: Public hearing in House College and Workforce Development |
| HB 2654 | Requiring uniform reporting of certain fiscal details by community and technical colleges | Feb. 3: Referred to Appropriations |
| SB 6140/HB 2513 | Prohibiting the practice of transcript withholding and limiting the practice of registration holds at institutions of higher education as debt collection practices | Jan. 16: Public hearing in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee |
| SB 6141/HB 2523 | Expanding access to higher education |
Feb. 10: Public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 11: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee. Passed to Rules. |
| SB 6168/HB 2325 | Making 2019-2021 fiscal biennium supplemental operating appropriations | Jan. 14: Public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee |
| SB 6248/HB 2324 | Concerning the capital budget | Jan. 14: Public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee |
| SB 6374 | Concerning apprenticeship materials for dual credit scholarship programs |
Feb. 6: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 7: Referred to Rules |
| SB 6405 | Supporting student success at community and technical colleges by increasing full-time faculty and stabilizing the use of part-time faculty |
Feb. 10: Public hearing in Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 11: Passed Senate Ways and Means Committee. Referred to Rules. |
| SB 6424 | Concerning room and board for college bound scholarship students | Jan. 23: Public hearing in Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee |
| SB 6484 | Allowing counties to seek voter approval for a property tax levy to fund community and technical college districts |
Feb. 4: Public hearing in Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee |
| SB 6492 | Addressing workforce education investment funding through business and occupation tax reform | Feb. 10: Governor signed |
| SB 6505 | Expanding access to dual credit opportunities by eliminating direct costs to students and families | Feb. 7: Passed to Rules |
| SB 6576/HB 2299 | Creating prison to postsecondary education pathways | Feb. 6: Public hearing in Senate Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee |
Trustees confirmed by Senate
The following trustees were confirmed by the Senate this week. This list is as of noon Friday:
- Tamra L. Jackson, Wenatchee Valley College, confirmed Feb. 13
- Robert M. Ryan, Tacoma Community College, confirmed Feb. 13
- Thomas R. Stredwick, Big Bend Community College, confirmed Feb. 13
- Donald R. McQuary, Walla Walla Community College, confirmed Feb. 13
- Kedrich Jackson, Columbia Basin College, confirmed Feb. 13
- Rekah T. Strong, Clark College, confirmed Feb. 13
Coming up next week
The Legislature will continue floor action until Wednesday at 5 p.m. when session reaches the house of origin cutoff deadline. Committees will resume work Thursday with a Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee hearing scheduled.
