April 13, 2007, Ed. 14 |
Produced by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges |
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This Week in Legislative Delivering a skilled and educated workforce in the 21st Century More floor action…
Next week in Legislative More floor action… Oh-so-close to final bill round-up
Legislative Hotline Hearing Impaired Washington State TDD Relay Service Legislature's Web site Governor's Web site TVW Web site Legislative News is published weekly during legislative sessions by the staff of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, 1300 Quince Street SE, PO Box 42495, Olympia, WA 98504-2495, telephone 360-704-4310, FAX 360-704-4415. Suzy Ames, editor
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Delivering a skilled and educated workforce in the 21st Century The House Higher Education, House Community and Economic Development and Trade and House Commerce and Labor committees held a joint work session on Wednesday to hear about delivering a skilled and educated workforce in the 21st Century. At the heart of the session was Substitute House Bill 1880, sponsored by Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver. The bill would create the Skills-Based Economic Growth Planning Program, which authorizes workforce development councils to serve as lead regional workforce development planning agencies. Currently, there are 12 workforce development councils statewide that help coordinate the education, training and job placement system to meet the needs of local employers and workers. They also provide input to the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (WTECB) in the development of a statewide workforce plan. Under the bill, workforce development councils would be required to convene workforce-related entities, adopt a skills-based economic growth plan for their regions, and collect and report data to support their plans. Committee members heard from three panels, one representing the workforce development council perspective on improving planning and coordination; one on regional planning recommendations from Washington Works; and another on regional planning initiatives, resources and recommendations. CEO of the Washington Workforce Association Tim Probst and Kris Stadelman, director of the Seattle-King County Workforce Development Council, spoke on behalf of increasing collaboration and supporting a comprehensive approach to economic development that addresses regional needs. Both agreed that additional funding is needed to support the on-going coordination of resources and efforts across education and workforce sectors. David Harrison, chair of the WTECB, discussed the recommendations from Washington Works: Strengthening the Workforce for Washington’s Future, an assessment on how to continue to improve the workforce system, produced by the Workforce Board. “There are at least 500,000 under-skilled Washingtonians who we need to upscale to be sufficiently competitive,” Harrison said. “The exhilarating part is the investments you’ve put in place to respond to those challenges, most notably, the Opportunity Grant bill that’s been passed and your continuing ongoing investment in workforce training in the 34 community and technical colleges.” He talked about local industry skills panels and Centers of Excellence at two-year colleges as two initiatives focused on meeting the needs of specific sectors and providing regional collaboration for economic development. “The way we have invested is to create huge capacity in the community and technical college system to respond to those overall sectoral needs – and that’s the jewel of our effort,” he said. “[House Bill] 1880 is an attempt to broaden our planning perspective … and workforce development councils are a key partner in organizing that regional table.” Lisa Nisenfeld, executive director of the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, and Joe Renouard, director of workforce education at Clark College, echoed earlier testimony regarding the need to leverage resources to be responsive to regional industry needs. Nisenfeld spoke to the need for legislative intent for regions to work together, and flexible funding to facilitate coordination and build better pipelines for workers and students. “It is money that is stretched very thinly already…that’s why Opportunity Grants are such an important contribution to the picture…we hope we can align these efforts with Opportunity Grants,” she said. Renouard emphasized the need for additional staffing to oversee the coordination efforts and mobilize targeted resources, such as staff and funding, to address changing labor market needs. He explained that leveraging both state and federal workforce education funding can be difficult because funds are prescriptive and need to be spent within specific guidelines. Bob Drewel, executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, highlighted the work of the Prosperity Partnership’s higher education work group, which he said is working to produce more bachelors and associates degrees statewide in targeted areas by 2010. He explained that by using statewide and regional data, they have outlined a regional economic strategy with clear goals and deliverables. Carl Adrian, CEO of the Tri-cities Economic Development Council (TRIDEC); Rich Cummins, acting president of Columbia Basin College (CBC); Clark Haueter, vice chancellor of budget and finance at Washington State University Tri-cities; Michelle Mann, executive director of the Benton-Franklin Workforce Development Council; and Kris Johnson, executive director of the Tri-cities Regional Chamber of Commerce, spoke on behalf of the unique collaboration between workforce and higher education in the Tri-cities area. TRIDEC’s Adrian explained that the Tri-cities community long ago identified the crucial relationship between education and workforce development in the expansion of their local economy. “Because of the technical nature of the workforce in our area, collaboration of workforce and education is the crucial piece,” he said. “Our workforce partners are an integral part of recruiting new businesses into the area.” CBC’s Cummins and WSU Tri-cities Haueter echoed this testimony and explained how the colleges are continuously working together with workforce partners to ensure educational pathways are aligned to local workforce needs. In addition, Johnson cited how Lockheed Martin has donated laptops to both new freshman at WSU Tri-cities and transfer students at CBC as an example of how local businesses are stepping up to ensure the success of higher education programs in the area. Adrian said as part of their efforts, they created an educational council to work on ways to bridge the gaps between K-12 through higher education to create pathways for students. “We have the right size community to get everyone at the table,” added Cummins, of the various education initiatives going on in the area, such as the expansion of WSU Tri-cities from a two-year to a four-year institution. “We shaped a vision together of what we want the community to be like in the next few years …and we worked backward from that.” Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez-Kenney, D-Seattle, applauded their efforts. “If the community really puts their mind behind it, they can do it,” she said. “It’s not always just asking for money…it’s about wanting to work together … this is a true model.” Renton Technical College President Don Bressler finished the session by talking about the college’s 65 year history of working with various workforce development partners to prepare students for jobs in the local economy. As an example, he spoke of the college’s role in the health care industry through participation in industry skill panels, partner in clinical placement coordination, incumbent worker training and the development of new courses to meet business needs. March of the Bills: Legislative survival of the fittest The long progression toward becoming law continues this week as bills fight the odds of surviving past the ultimate April 22 deadline. Bills have until the end of day today to pass out of the opposite chambers or face extinction (well, at least for this session). In addition, legislators are still hard at work in budget negotiations and ensuring the cycle of life for bills on the hill continues unabated. So, from our relatively safe, warm offices…your legislative nature-watchers continue to bring you all the highlights. Here again, are the bills of interest to the two-year colleges: High School Completion House Bill 1051, expanding high school completion programs, was passed by the Senate. The bill now returns to the House, where representatives will decide if they agree with the changes proposed by the Senate. Sponsored by Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, the bill allows students under 21 years old who have completed graduation requirements, except the Certificate of Academic Achievement, to enroll at no charge at a two-year college in a high school diploma program. In addition, the bill allows colleges to contract with high schools to offer the program directly or join together to offer regional programs. The bill passed by the Senate was as amended in the Senate Ways and Means Committee to change from a mandatory program to a pilot at two community or technical colleges (not named). Financial Aid Second Substitute House Bill 1096, creating postsecondary opportunity programs, was passed by the Senate and returns to the House for concurrence. Sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, the bill directs the SBCTC to develop and implement the opportunity grant program in partnership with business, labor, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board and the Higher Education Coordinating Board. In addition to the policy bill, funding for the program is also an active piece of the budget negotiations. The governor’s budget recommendations included $5 million for opportunity grants. The House budget included $15 million to fund the program. The Senate’s budget did not include any funding for opportunity grants. The fate of the program now lies in the budget conference process as the House and Senate develop a final budget recommendation to send to the governor. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1131, creating the Passport to College Promise program, sponsored by Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, was passed by the Senate and returns to the House where the representatives will decide if they concur with the changes proposed by the Senate. The bill was amended by the Senate Ways and Means Committee to turn the program into a six-year pilot program to provide scholarships and student support services for students who emancipate from foster care at age 18, after having spent at least one year in foster care after their 16th birthday. The maximum annual supplemental scholarship amount will be equal to tuition and fees at the highest-priced state college or university. In addition, the amended bill requires the Department of Social and Health Services to establish procedures for helping the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and institutions of higher education identify students who are eligible for assistance under the program. Lastly, the bill was amended to charge the HECB, rather than the SBCTC, to be responsible for developing a foster youth-specific Web site on college admission and financial aid processes, timelines and resources. Funding for the program was included in both House and Senate budget recommendations, at $2.5 and $2.7 million respectively. Substitute House Bill 1179, allowing part-time students at postsecondary institutions to qualify for a State Need Grant, is still being held by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, possibly as one of the bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, the bill reduces the minimum number of quarter credits for which a student must be enrolled to receive a State Need Grant from six to three (or the semester equivalent). The House budget recommendations included funding to implement SHB 1179. House Bill 1222, regarding State Need Grant award calculations, is still being held by the House Appropriations Committee, possibly as one of the bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, the bill provides a sliding grant award scale for the State Need Grant based on family income and expands eligibility for the State Need Grant to students with up to 85 percent of the state median family income. Funding was provided in the Senate budget to expand eligibility for the State Need Grant to include students whose family incomes are between 66 and 75 percent of the state median. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5098, creating the Washington College Bound Scholarship program (originally entitled the Washington Guaranteed Scholarship program), was passed by the House and returns to the Senate for concurrence on the amendments proposed by the House. Sponsored by Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Kitsap County, the bill authorizes the Higher Education Coordinating Board to purchase credits through the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) Program for 7th grade students who are from low-income families. Students must pledge, during their 7th or 8th grade years, that they will graduate from high school with at least a C average and not have any felony convictions. The scholarship would provide funding to cover the cost of the student’s tuition, fees, books and materials, minus the value of any other state financial aid received. The Higher Education Coordinating Board would administer the program. Tuition waivers Substitute Senate Bill 5101, sponsored by Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, was passed by the House. The bill returned to the Senate for concurrence. The bill expands the eligibility for state employee college tuition waivers to include public school teachers and certificated instructional staff who hold, or are seeking, an endorsement and assignment in a state-identified shortage area. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5002, sponsored by Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, was passed by the House and returned to the Senate for concurrence. The bill changes tuition waivers for families of fallen veterans and National Guard members to make them mandatory for certain children and spouses of veterans. Tuition and fees waived for children and surviving spouses of eligible veterans do not apply to the limits placed on institutions with respect to operating fees revenue. WA Learns Recommendations The House passed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5806, sponsored by Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, which implements the Washington Learns higher education recommendations to establish a statewide tuition policy and specified policy issues. The bill is now on its way to the governor for signature. Faculty/Labor Substitute House Bill 2361, changing collective bargaining eligibility requirements for certain employees of higher education institutions and related boards, was passed by both chambers and is awaiting signature by the governor. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, the bill provides collective bargaining rights to certain exempt employees in higher education. The substitute bill continues the exclusion of executive employees and their assistants, managers, confidential employees, and employees involved in human resources and labor relations. Educational Programs Second Substitute House Bill 1906, sponsored by Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, was passed by the Senate and will return to the House for concurrence. The bill would improve math and science education in the K-12 system and covers the main sections from the governor’s omnibus education bill. The bill would: create an after school math support program with community-based organizations; create a math and science instructional coach program; require the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt new math and science standards; require the SBE to identify three math and science curricula for each grade span; create two new alternative routes to teacher certification for math and science teachers; and require a common math test for college readiness to be used by all colleges and universities as a measure of college readiness. Substitute Senate Bill 5104, expanding the applied baccalaureate degree pilot program, is being held by the House Appropriations Committee possibly as one of the bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, the bill expands the applied baccalaureate degree pilot program. Two additional pilots would be created – at least one of which will be a technical college. An amendment was added by the House Higher Education Committee that changes the date by which colleges must be selected for the pilot from February to June 2008. Substitute Senate Bill 5731, creating a committee on the education of students in high demand fields in both two- and four-year colleges, was passed by the House and returns to the Senate for concurrence. Sponsored by Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, the bill establishes a committee on the education of students in high demand fields. The committee will consist of: two members of the House of Representatives; two members of the Senate; and one person each from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the SBCTC, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Washington State Labor Council, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Council of Presidents, the Prosperity Partnership, and a graduate student member of the Washington Student Lobby. Second Substitute Senate Bill 5743, linking economic clusters and quality management practices to customized training, is being held by the House Appropriations Committee, possibly as one of the bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, the bill requires the SBCTC to develop additional mechanisms for identifying and reaching out to firms with a strong potential to be globally competitive after participating in the Job Skills Program; and encourage businesses participating in the program to participate in workshops or training in continuous quality improvement, performance measurement, and strategic planning, to improve company productivity and effectiveness. Corrections/Education Substitute House Bill 1319, sponsored by Rep. Al O’Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, was passed by the Senate and returns to the House for concurrence. The bill expands the offense of stalking, at the felony level, to include the stalking of staff, including community college faculty and staff, who work in correctional facilities, municipal jails, criminal justice centers and Department of Corrections day reporting centers. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5070, sponsored by Sen. Mike Carroll, R-Lakewood, which incorporates changes to existing laws and new provisions that impact offenders returning to the community from confinement, is still awaiting passage in the House. In the education section of the bill, the Department of Corrections and the SBCTC are required to investigate and review methods to optimize education and vocational programming opportunities for offenders, including the need for an educational loan program within institutions. The report is due to the governor and Legislature by November 2007. Miscellaneous Senate Bill 5759, sponsored by Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, was signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire. The new law adds technical college trustees to the list of executive state officers who must file a statement of financial affairs. Community college trustees are already on the list. When the technical colleges were merged into the community and technical college system, the Legislature failed to amend the Public Disclosure statutes to include technical colleges on the list of those required to file an F1 form. Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5843, sponsored by Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, regarding educational data and data systems, was passed by the House and returns to the Senate for concurrence. The House amended the bill to include the creation of an Education Data Center in the Office of Financial Management to conduct collaborative analyses of early learning, K-12 and higher education programs and issues.
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