College system supported bills on transcripts, computer science bachelor's degrees, supporting students experiencing homelessness pass Legislature
The House and Senate spent the bulk of the week debating and voting on bills ahead of Sunday's chamber cutoff deadline. Highlighting the week:
- The community and technical college system's requested bill that would prohibit school districts from withholding students' official grades and transcripts due to an unpaid fee or fine passed the Senate.
- The bill allowing community and technical colleges to offer bachelor's degrees in computer science passed the House.
- The bill expanding the Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness pilot passed the Senate.
Transcript withholding bill passes Senate
The Senate on Tuesday voted 25 to 23, largely among party lines, to approve ESHB 1176, the bill that would prohibit a school district from withholding students’ official grades and transcripts due to an unpaid fee or fine. The Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee amended the bill to remove the House-added amendment allowing school districts to withhold official grades and transcripts for three years after the student left the district. The version that passed the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee is the one that passed the full Senate.
"This bill does not obviate the need for reconciliation for [students] to find a way to pay back the school," said Sen. Lisa Wellman, chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee. "These are impediments that really shouldn't be put in kids' way."
Wellman emphasized that students — especially students of color who face disproportionate impacts of withheld grades and transcripts — face challenges enrolling in a college or university or joining the military without that information.
The bill now goes back to the House for it to consider the Senate's amendments.
House approves computer science bachelor's degree bill
The House on Wednesday voted 96 to 2 to allow community and technical colleges to offer bachelor's degrees in computer science under ESHB 5401.
"It's important that we create access in every corner of our state for our individuals and our students to be able to partake of these degrees in order to create family-wage jobs for themselves, sustain themselves, and begin to build wealth assets within Washington," said Rep. Mari Leavitt, vice chair of the House College and Workforce Development Committee. "Also, we want to build a strong economy, and the best way to do that is to make sure that our workers have the skill sets that our business and industry is demanding."
The bill heads to Gov. Jay Inslee for signature.
Students experiencing homelessness pilot expansion passes Senate
The bill that would double the Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness (SSEH) pilot program to a total of eight colleges and four universities passed the Senate Wednesday. SHB 1166 received a 41 to 8 vote.
"It builds on the work that we in this body started in 2019 hand-in-hand with formerly homeless college student advocates who were looking for a way to support the students in our higher education system who were facing many barriers to success," said Sen. Emily Randall, chair of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
"As I said on the floor just yesterday, we have a goal of 70% credential attainment, and we need to remove every barrier we possibly can to achieve that goal so that businesses in Washington can have access to a well-trained workforce and that individuals can build the lives that they dream of and deserve," she continued.
The bill now goes to Gov. Inslee for his signature.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SHB 1016 | Making Juneteenth a legal holiday. |
April 7: Placed on second reading |
| 2SHB 1033 | Concerning the Washington customized employment training program. |
April 7: Placed on second reading |
| 2SHB 1044 | Creating prison to postsecondary education pathways. |
April 7: Placed on second reading |
| SHB 1166 | Expanding access to the homeless and foster care college students pilot program. |
April 7: Passed Senate 41-8 |
| ESHB 1176 | Concerning access to higher education. |
April 6: Passed Senate 25-23 |
| SHB 1302 | Concerning college in the high school programs. |
April 7: Passed Senate 49-0 |
| E2SSB 5194 | Providing for equity and access in the community and technical colleges. |
April 6: Placed on second reading |
| E2SSB 5227 | Requiring diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism training and assessments at institutions of higher education. |
April 5: Placed on second reading |
| SSB 5288 | Increasing access to the Washington opportunity scholarship program. | March 10: Referred to College and Workforce Development Committee. |
| SSB 5401 | Authorizing community and technical colleges to offer bachelor degrees in computer science. |
April 7: Passed House 96-2 |
| SB 5431 | Creating the Rosa Franklin legislative internship program scholarship. |
April 5: Passed House 95-3 |
Coming up next week
Representatives and senators will continue debating and voting on bills until 5 p.m. Sunday, the session's last cutoff deadline. Next week, the House and Senate will consider bills that were amended by the opposite chamber. If changes are approved, bills go to Gov. Inslee for signature. If changes are not approved, members of the House and Senate will confer to work out differences before a final vote.
