Today marks the first major milestone of the 2025 session. It's policy committee cutoff, which means bills need to be voted out of policy committees — like House Postsecondary Education and Workforce and Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development — to continue in the legislative process.
For the community and technical college system this week, bills on adding a student member to the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and to college boards of trustees, modifying accreditation standards, supporting high school students who are chronically absent or at risk of not graduating, and marketing online course offerings passed their policy committees.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee this week heard the fiscal impacts of the State Board-requested bill to expand the College Bound Scholarship. Committee members also heard testimony on bills that would create the Financial Aid Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Program and extend the Customized Training Program’s business and occupation tax credit. Over in the House Housing Committee, the committee heard a bill that would allow community and technical colleges to use land for affordable housing.
Ways and Means hears College Bound expansion, high school student support, Customized Training Program extension bills
The Senate Ways and Means Committee heard three bills this week that would affect the community and technical college system, including the State Board-requested bill on expanding College Bound Scholarship eligibility to include students who received a high school equivalency certificate.
Under current law, students who graduate from high school without a felony conviction and whose families do not exceed 65% of the state median family income are eligible to use the College Bound Scholarship at community and technical colleges. Students attending a public or private university must maintain a C average while in high school to be eligible for the scholarship. SB 5543 passed the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on Feb. 10. The Washington Student Achievement Council anticipates the legislation, if made law, would cost the agency $40,000 in the next two biennial budgets.
“This is another opportunity to make a commitment to students who have otherwise taken a different path to finishing their high school diploma, and also while they're with us, we open their eyes to opportunities to the myriad of other pathways to family-wage work” Arlen Harris, legislative director for the State Board told committee members on Monday.
Also up for a hearing on Monday was a bill that would, if funded, create the Financial Aid Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment Program, created by SB 5164, under which the State Board would be required to run a program in every Educational Service District. Outreach and enrollment specialists would work with high school students on completing financial aid forms and applying for education after high school. The bill builds on a pilot program established in 2022 that operates in the ESDs in northwest Washington, southeast Washington, and the Capitol region.
“This is excellent policy and a pilot has proven out,” Harris said. “This is scalable.”
At its Tuesday hearing, Ways and Means Committee members heard the fiscal impacts of a bill that would extend the Customized Training Program’s business and occupation tax credit expiration date to July 1, 2031. First created in 2006, the program provides interest-free loan assistance to businesses contracting with colleges for employee training. The State Board pays up-front costs that the business pays back once the training is complete. Businesses may take a B&O tax credit equal to 50% of the payment. The tax credit is set to expire July 1, 2026.
“It's a tool for helping businesses adjust to market and technology changes so we can keep well-paying jobs here in Washington,” Carolyn McKinnon, a workforce policy associate with the State Board, said of SB 5682. “The program's been functioning well.”
Senators also heard from Denise Shoot, director of human resources for Cannon Construction LLC, a telecommunications and power infrastructure construction firm based in Milton, Wash., and Don Sosnowski, executive director of training at Clover Park Technical College. Cannon Construction partnered with Clover Park using a Customized Training Program grant to develop specialized training specific to the company, providing more than 1,000 hours of training to over 80 employees in less than a year.
“This program is instrumental in addressing critical skill gaps and enhancing efficiencies and preparing our team for sustainable growth,” Shoot said. “Without the tax credit, employers like us wouldn't be able to offer such comprehensive training.”
Speaking about the program more broadly, Sosnowski told senators that Clover Park provided training over the past 10 years to employees at 19 organizations with grants of $650,000. The organizations represented the finance, food production, engineering, retail support, dental services, and agricultural sectors.
“Clover Park Tech is proud to help businesses in our region adapt and thrive in a competitive environment. We do that by providing employer-specific custom training, including training supported by the customized training program,” he said. “The projects funded by the program have enabled employers to organize staff and facilities and grow more efficient and profitable. This program is an important part of our economic and workforce development toolkit.”
Bill allowing college land to be used for affordable housing heard in Senate Housing Committee
Feb. 19 — A bill that would allow community and technical colleges to use land for affordable housing was up for a hearing during Thursday’s Senate Housing Committee’s hearing. The bill, SB 5725, would authorize the State Board to enter into leases up to 99 years for affordable housing development on underutilized college land. It would also create a leasehold excise tax exemption when the land is used for that purpose.
Sen. Vandana Slatter, the bill’s prime sponsor, raised the bill to help address the high cost of development, which has led to housing instability among public sector employees, making it challenging for colleges and universities to attract and retain faculty and staff.
“One of the ways that I've heard that we can reduce housing costs is to expand the supply of housing that is affordable to our workforce by discounting high property acquisition costs, by repurposing underutilized state-owned land,” Slatter said. “The bill before you seeks to reduce some of those barriers and to make it a little easier for colleges, who wish to do so, to repurpose underutilized land for the development of housing that can be marketed to staff, faculty, other public employees, or even students who meet the 60% [Area Median Income] income threshold.”
Darrell Jennings, capital budget director for the State Board, told committee members of the college system’s support for the bill’s intent, but asked the committee to consider amending it to ensure the bill’s goals can be met and alleviate potential operational challenges.
“Housing near community colleges supports the core mission by providing education and training for all students to prepare their education and further their careers. It's a pressing issue for many of our colleges,” he said.
Also speaking in support of the bill’s underlying policy, Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap, chancellor of the Seattle College District, referenced a North Seattle College partnership with Chief Seattle Club and Bellwether Housing to build affordable housing on land formerly owned by the college. She explained some of the challenges presented by the project, including financing, bond and tax credit rules, and US Internal Revenue Service code restrictions.
“We do appreciate that the legislation remains permissive allowing local boards to determine the best use, but if it does impose new restrictions on the broad authority, we wouldn't be able to be in support of this,” she said.
Coming up next week
House and Senate fiscal committees will work throughout next week to meet Friday's fiscal committee cutoff deadline, the date in which bills with a monetary impact will need to be voted out of those committees to continue in the legislative process.
