With a new governor for the first time in 12 years and a $12 billion budget deficit over the next four years, lawmakers returned to Olympia Monday facing big changes and difficult decisions. Outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee reflected on his time as governor in his final State of the State speech Tuesday, and incoming Gov. Bob Ferguson set the tone for his administration in his inaugural address Wednesday.

Committees also began their work, with House and Senate fiscal committees hearing testimony on Inslee's proposed budgets that were released in December. In policy committees, members heard bills on tuition waivers for Tribal elders, creating a program to give grants to students for community or volunteer service, and starting a student navigational support program at every educational service district.

The House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee this morning heard a bill that would create a program to help students complete financial aid applications and enroll in post-high school education. Look for coverage of that hearing in next week's Legislative News.

College system leaders testify on Inslee operating budget proposal

The House Appropriations and Senate Ways and Means committees heard testimony this week on Gov. Jay Inslee’s last proposed operating budgets for the fiscal year ending June 30 and the 2025-27 biennial budget. The operating budget proposal for the current fiscal year would adjust the community and technical college system’s appropriation by $28.6 million to correct a calculation error by the state that mistakenly doubled an allocation in the 2023-25 budget.

“In the supplemental budget, we are deeply concerned about the proposed takeback of $28.6 million this fiscal year,” Chris Bailey, the State Board’s interim executive director, told members of both committees. “The colleges have spent or committed these funds, and a takeback would result in abrupt budget cuts affecting students this winter and spring quarters.”

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee Monday, Tim Stokes, president of South Puget Sound Community College, said his college used the funds to pay for enhanced student supports, increased electricity costs, and immigrant and refugee language acquisition programs.

“I would hate to have to eliminate some of that programming in order to give this money back that's already allocated to our colleges,” he said.

In similar testimony to the Senate Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, Chemene Crawford, president of Everett Community College, said funds allowed her college to regain momentum with student success initiatives and planned development of new programs.

Gov. Inslee’s proposed 2025-27 budget includes a one-tenth of a percent decrease in general fund appropriations to the community and technical college system, amounting to $1.4 million for each year of the two-year budget and continues funding for the new Hospitality Center of Excellence housed at Columbia Basin College. It also fully funds salary increases for employee groups named under I-732 at 3.81% for 2025-26 and 2.55% for 2026-27, Washington Federation of State Employee members and non-represented employees at 3% for 2025-26 and 2% for 2026-27. The budget does not include funding for the college system’s ask to fully fund competitive employee compensation and college operations.

“Our college system greatly appreciates that the governor's proposed biennial budget comes close to maintaining our existing funding levels and equally important that it provides 100% funding for compensation increases,” Bailey said. “We recognize the Legislature has difficult decisions to make and we also hope you will be in the position to consider our urgent need to provide competitive compensation and to strengthen operational support.”

Stokes and Crawford also expressed thanks that the proposed budget maintains full funding for salary increases.

“Our community college and our fellow community and technical colleges are grateful that the governor's proposed biennial budget comes close to keeping our colleges whole and maintains 100% funding for compensation increases,” Crawford said.

House, Senate committees hear Inslee capital budget proposal

Committees considering Gov. Jay Inslee’s capital budget proposal heard testimony on it this week, including from representatives from community and technical colleges with projects on the system’s list. Inslee’s proposed budget funds the college system’s prioritized list through Edmonds College’s Triton Learning Commons.

“These investments are essential to keep campus facilities safe, functional, and aligned with today's educational and workforce needs,” Darrell Jennings, capital budget director for the State Board told the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Monday.

Joining Jennings at the Monday hearing and again at Thursday’s House Capital Budget hearing were Amit Singh, president of Edmonds College, and Jacob Jackson, vice president of administration and finance at Renton Technical College.

“We have a growing population of adult basic education students like high school completion, an English acquisition program, and a GED® program. These programs are high-touch programs that need a lot of support wraparound services,” Singh said. “This project will bring all of them under one roof and co-locate many services and help [students] be successful with all kinds of support wraparound services.”

Renton’s project, construction funding to remodel its Health Sciences Center, is the next project on the list after the Edmonds project. The building currently housing programs slated for the Health Sciences Center, Jackson told committee members, was built in the 1940s and remodeled in the 1970s.

“This new project would allow for our students to train and learn in a modern up-to-date facility, which is desperately needed for our campus,” he said.

Inslee encourages lawmakers to build on his successes in final State of the State address

Jan. 14 — Then Gov. Jay Inslee delivered his final State of the State address Tuesday morning to a joint session of the Legislature. Using the time to reflect on his tenure as governor, he reiterated his call for specific tax increases and cautioned lawmakers against drastic cuts in the face of the state’s estimated $12 billion budget shortfall throught 2029.

“Washington voters just sent a strong message that they want to continue the path we’re building,” he said. “Deep budget cuts always fall hardest on the people who can’t afford them, like working families, or students trying to manage both their grades and their mental health, or the thousands who have been priced out by a housing market that has not kept pace with demand.”

Inslee took the opportunity to remind legislators, many of whom were not elected at the time, of specific cuts made during the Great Recession when the state axed $11 billion from its budget.

“Cutting higher education funding, causing tuition to soar,” he said. “Abstract numerical cuts actually mean concrete personal pain, like the pain of a kid who has to drop out of college because they can’t afford a tuition hike.”

Challenging lawmakers to continue building on the successes of his governorship, like establishing the Washington College Grant, Inslee encouraged representatives and senators to remain optimistic in achieving their goals of moving the state forward even if progress is slow.

“We have to go forward on our investments in young people and education, like the work we’ve done to grow more support resources at our schools with social workers, paraeducators, and counselors,” he said. “Although my administration’s time is at an end, we’ve been running full speed ‘through the tape’ and now we are passing the baton. This Legislature knows how to keep going. The challenges ahead will not weaken the momentum of what we are doing here.”

Ferguson calls for streamlining government in inaugural address

Jan. 15 — Bob Ferguson was inaugurated Wednesday as Washington’s 24th governor, laying out the priorities for his term to a joint session of the Legislature in his inaugural address. As the state faces a $12 billion budget shortfall, Ferguson asked lawmakers to join him in looking at how government can streamline its business.

“We cannot simply assume that government’s role is to do everything it has always done, while continuing to add new programs and responsibilities every year. That’s not smart. And that’s not sustainable,” he said. “Rather, like any family budget, we must be vigilant in assessing existing investments to determine whether they still make sense and whether they meet our priorities during a budget crisis.”

Referencing a proposal made last week to cut an $4 billion from the state’s budget on top of former Gov. Inslee’s proposed budget, Ferguson said his goal is reform to speed up the pace of the state government’s decision making, improve customer service, and center people.

Ferguson’s budget proposal does not call for cuts to community and technical colleges, basic education, or public safety agencies. It does put forward an average 6% cut to most state agencies and a 3% cut to four-year universities.

Even with a budget shortfall, though, Ferguson recognized that the state needs to invest in areas like public safety, housing, and behavioral health. Calling out proposals before the Legislature, Ferguson spoke to Rep. Julia Reed’s guaranteed admissions bill.

“Rep. Reed, your proposal to ensure that every Washingtonian with a 3.0 GPA receives automatic acceptance into many of our exceptional state institutions of higher education should be adopted by this Legislature. And I look forward to signing it,” he said.

Senate higher education committee hears bills on Tribal elder tuition waiver, Dreamer grant program, high school student support program

Jan. 16 — Members of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee Thursday took up three bills that would affect the community and technical college system — one creating a tuition waiver for Tribal elders, one that would create a grant program for Dreamer students, and one that would start a navigational support program for high school seniors.

Tribal elders tuition waiver

Under a bill sponsored by Sen. Claudia Kauffman at the request of the State Board, SB 5110, community and technical colleges may waiver part or all of tuition and fees for elders over the age of 55 who are members of Washington’s 29 federally-recognized Tribes.

“For American Indians, looking at how we place value on our elders, that our elders are to be respected and revered. For American Indians reaching [elder] status is a tremendous amount of opportunity, but also responsibility. How elders are not only treated, but how elders move about within their community,” Kauffman said. “And when you see an elder attending a college — going back to school — that is an inspiration for another generation.”

Maya Esquivido-Strom, interim director of tribal government affairs with the State Board, spoke in favor of the bill, pointing out that Native Americans have a lower life expectancy compared to the general population.

“By lowering the eligibility age to 55, this bill acknowledges that Tribal elders may have fewer opportunities to pursue educational activities later in life due to these challenges,” she said. “Access to tuition waivers would help ensure that they have the chance to further their education regardless of the short life expectancy or other socioeconomic barriers they may face.”

Krista Francis, vice president of student services at Peninsula College, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying that it would allow the college to better serve Indigenous community members.

“Lowering the age threshold to 55 would allow colleges to engage in a deeper conversation with each Tribe to offer tuition waivers for more indigenous members or acknowledge those elders within their Tribe,” she said.

Dream Act Service Incentive Program

Senators also heard a bill that would create the Dream Act Service Incentive Program, SB 5115, that would provide eligible students with grants to help with college tuition and fees as they complete community or volunteer service.

Sen. Javier Valdez, the bill’s prime sponsor, told the committee that the idea for the bill started after a meeting with constituents about ways to support students with Dreamer immigration status since they are not eligible for federal work-study opportunities.

“I simply was very surprised that our Dreamers, who contribute so much here to all of us here in Washington state, are not eligible for work-study,” he said. “That's what the bill is simply proposing — it would actually make them eligible, which I think, simply, is the right thing to do.”

Jessica Perez, an interim student services policy associate with the State Board, spoke in favor of the bill, saying it provides vital support for undocumented students.

“One key part of this incentive program is the volunteer and community service aspect which allows students to give back to the community while building a support network for other students who may be facing similar funding challenges,” she said.

Also speaking in favor of the bill was Khanh Pham, one of the State Board’s legislative interns for the 2025 session. Pham told senators of his experience as a first-generation low-income student who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 2022.

“Through my journey, I was fortunate enough to secure a work-study position which not only helped ease our family’s financial burden but also gave me valuable work experience. Every day, I meet many students with so much talent and drive, but they’re blocked from opportunities just because of their immigration status,” he said. “The Washington Dream Act Service Incentive Program would create meaningful opportunities for students who are currently excluded from federal work-study.”

Financial Aid Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Program

Last on the committee’s agenda was a bill that would create the Financial Aid Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Program, SB 5164. If passed, the State Board would be required to run a program in every Educational Service District where outreach and enrollment specialists would work with high school students on completing financial aid forms and applying for education after high school.

“These specialists will offer personalized hands-on assistance while collaborating with community-based and tribal organizations to meet the diverse needs of students statewide,” Sen. T'wina Nobles, the bill’s prime sponsor and chair of the committee, said. “By bridging a gap between aspiration and achievement, this bill empowers students to succeed and contribute to a stronger economy and more equitable communities.”

The Legislature in 2022 established a similar program in which outreach specialists work with high school students on boosting financial aid awareness and application completion. The program, which was expanded in 2023, operates in three Educational Service Districts. Sam Herriot, government relations liaison for the State Board, told senators of the success of that program.

“In its first full year, we observed a significant increase in financial aid completion rates within the pilot regions. Despite the challenges posed by the FAFSA rollout last year, our specialists have continued to make progress in increasing financial aid application completion, expanding their outreach efforts to serve nearly 30% more students,” they said. “The outreach specialists have successfully built trust and rapport with students, families, high schools, and others. The increasingly positive view of the outreach teams as trusted messengers, educators, and advocates is reflected in the numbers of students served.”

Isabella Flores, a legislative intern for the State Board for the 2025 session, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying that friends would get overwhelmed when applying for financial aid.

“Without guidance, it's easy to believe that higher education just isn't for you, especially if you come from a low-income family or the first in your family to go to college,” she said. “This bill matters because it would provide the kind of hands-on support my friends needed — specialists and navigators who can break things down, answer questions, and encourage students to keep going when the process feels impossible.”

Alyson Rotter, associate dean of K-12 partnerships and outreach at Olympic College, expanded on Herriot’s testimony about the success of the financial aid outreach pilot program currently in place that SB 5164 would replace. Olympic College is one of eight colleges part of the pilot. It’s joined by Big Bend Community College, Centralia College, Columbia Basin College, Grays Harbor College, Peninsula College, South Puget Sound Community College, and Walla Walla Community College.

“We see that some students — maybe about 80% of those that are going to file — will do so with a financial aid night. Often there's a percentage of students that don't quite get over the finish line from those large group approaches — the universal approaches that most of our schools do — particularly the ones with higher needs — so mixed status families, McKinney-Vento students, other students with challenges and unique needs — really need up to three, four, five, six interactions, one-on-one with a specialist to be able to get over the finish line to file that application,” she said.
“That's where we see the most significant impact with having the specialists embedded in the schools.”

Coming up next week

Committee work will continue next week with a bill on establishing legal education programs slated for Monday's Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee's meeting. The bill creating a program to help students complete financial aid applications and enroll in post-high school education that was heard in today's House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee hearing is also scheduled for a committee vote on Tuesday.