March 9, 2007 - Ed. 9 |
Produced by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges |
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This Week in Legislative What has survived fiscal committee cut-off Floor action! Next week in Legislative More floor action Interim planning Early learning 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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Bills still standing after first round of cut-offs The deadline for fiscal committees to pass bills came and went this week – with one exception. The House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees held several higher education bills considered “necessary to implement the budget.” Their fate will be determined during the budget development process. For all other bills surviving, the House and Senate have until March 14 to pass bills out of their house of origin…and then the process begins again in the policy and fiscal committees in the opposite chambers. The following is a re-cap of the bills that are still at play for the two-year college system: High School Completion House Bill 1051, expanding high school completion programs, passed out of the House and was assigned to the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. 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. Financial Aid Second Substitute House Bill 1096, creating postsecondary opportunity programs, passed out of the House without amendments. 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. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1131 and its companion Second Substitute Senate Bill 5155, create the passport to college promise program. ESHB 1131 was passed by the House and assigned to the Senate Higher Education Committee. SSSB 5155 is awaiting action in the Senate. Sponsored by Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, and Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Tacoma, the bills direct the SBCTC to provide outreach and information to youth age 15 years and over who are in foster care regarding opportunities for higher education, including financial aid that may be available. In addition, the bills provide scholarships covering tuition and living expenses to eligible former foster youth between ages 16 and 26 years, and monetary incentives to higher education institutions that enroll and retain eligible former foster youth. Substitute House Bill 1179, allowing part-time students at postsecondary institutions to qualify for a State Need Grant, is still awaiting passage in the House. 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). House Bill 1222, regarding State Need Grant award calculations, has been 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. Second Substitute Senate Bill 5098, creating the Washington guaranteed scholarship program, is awaiting action in the Senate. Sponsored by Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D-Kitsap County, the bill would create the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) Program for 7th grade students who are low-income and would be first generation college graduates. 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. WA Learns Recommendations – introduction of the omnibus education bills Second Substitute Senate Bill 5806, sponsored by Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, implements the Washington Learns higher education recommendations. The bill establishes a statewide tuition policy. The bill passed out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and is awaiting action in the Senate. Faculty/Labor House Bill 1384 and its companion Senate Bill 5495, providing for academic employee salary increments for community and technical colleges, have been held respectively by the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee, possibly as bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez-Kenney, D-Seattle, and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, the bills direct the SBCTC to recommend to the Legislature an allocation model for distribution of salary increments for experience, professional development and training to state-funded academic employees at the community and technical colleges. In addition, they specify the SBCTC's biennial budget request be based on 0.8 percent of the academic employees’ base salary plus the value of associated benefits. Substitute House Bill 2361, changing collective bargaining eligibility requirements for certain employees of higher education institutions and related boards, is awaiting action in the House. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Conway, D-Tacoma, the bill provides collective bargaining rights to certain exempt employees in higher education. The substitute bills continue the exclusion of executive employees and their assistants, managers, confidential employees, and employees involved in human resources and labor relations. Educational Programs Substitute Senate Bill 5104, expanding the applied baccalaureate degree pilot program, was passed by the Senate and assigned to the House Higher Education Committee. 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. Senate Bill 5322, identifying sites and programs for a new institution of higher education in the Snohomish-Island-Skagit county region, is being held by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, possibly as one of the bills deemed necessary to implement the budget. Sponsored by Sen. Jean Berkey, D-Everett, the bill directs the Office of Financial Management to assess options and make a recommendation on alternative sites and secure purchase options for an institution of higher education in the Snohomish-Island-Skagit county region. Substitute Senate Bill 5731, creating a committee on the education of students in high demand fields, is in the Senate. 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; one person representing the Higher Education Coordinating Board; one person representing the SBCTC; one person representing the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and one person representing each of the following: the labor council; 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, passed in the Senate. 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. Do you know these obscure legislative definitions? The Legislative News staff had some time on their hands while legislators spent the week passing bills. Not wanting to leave you hanging for more information, we thought you’d enjoy an accurate, yet slightly humorous, look at the words and phrases tossed about on The Hill. Approach the Bar – No, it doesn’t actually mean a night out with your favorite legislator. The term is used to describe a legislator’s physical movement from any place on the floor of either house to the rostrum. (The rostrum is where the president of the Senate or speaker of the House and staff sit or stand while presiding over action on the floor of the Senate or House.) Bumping: Nope, not the newest legislative dance move…it is the slang term for suspending the rules to allow a bill to be advanced from the second to third reading without having the bill revert to the Rules Committee. Consent calendar: Bills with little or no known opposition that are placed on a special calendar by the Rules Committee. Dispute calendar: Bills amended by one body where the second body refuses to concur and asks the first body to recede. Emergency Clause: A provision in a bill that allows a measure to become effective immediately upon the signature of the governor…and no, you don’t have to wait until December 25…that’s a totally different “Claus.” First Reading: First of three readings required to pass measures. Bills on first reading are introduced and referred to standing committees. Flash Calendar: A listing of bills on the second or third reading calendar for the next day’s agenda in the Senate and the House. Grandfather Clause: Yup again, nothing to do with the holiday season or Santa’s parentage. A grandfather clause is inserted into a bill making provisions non-applicable to activities or personnel involved prior to the enactment of the new legislation. Null and Void Clause: Language specifying that a measure is invalid unless funding is provided in the budget by a specified date. Pull: Another legislative slang term for moving a bill. For example, legislators may move (pull) bills from a committee (such as Rules) to the floor. Recommitted Bill: A procedure whereby a bill is referred back to a standing or conference committee for further consideration. A bill may be recommitted at any time, usually on second or third reading. Recommitment of bills can be used to “kill” a bill during the final days of a session…thus probably making the bill’s supporters want to be “committed.” Second Reading: The reading of a bill for the second time, in full, open session, opening it up for amendments. Sine die: To conclude a regular or special session without setting a day to reconvene. Need we say more? Sunset Provision: This has nothing to do with daylight savings time. A sunset provision is a date certain for a law to automatically be repealed unless renewed by the Legislature. Third Reading: The final consideration of a bill before either chamber. The bill can be debated, tabled, referred, but not amended. Final passage takes a constitutional majority. Ulcer Gulch: A slang term for an area in the Legislative Building used by lobbyists and general public for telephone calls and messages. With a name like that, it’s probably not a place where you want to hang out for too long…unless you have good medical coverage. Whip: An assistant to the majority or minority leader, the duties of the whip include counting votes, checking attendance and maintaining caucus discipline on partisan issues and procedural questions. X-File: Good show, but not a good place to be if you’re a bill. The X-File is where the House and Senate Rules Committees may place bills that will go no further in the process.
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