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“Legislative Issues for the State of Washington”

“Legislative Issues for the State of Washington”. Chris Thompson Director of Government and Public Relations Independent Colleges of Washington WFAA Conference October 27, 2011. Preview. Structure of the Legislature Procedures for enacting laws Current Issues.

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“Legislative Issues for the State of Washington”

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  1. “Legislative Issues for the State of Washington” Chris Thompson Director of Government and Public Relations Independent Colleges of Washington WFAA Conference October 27, 2011

  2. Preview • Structure of the Legislature • Procedures for enacting laws • Current Issues

  3. Structure of the Institution • Bicameral (Rules, Terms, Culture) • Partisan (Caucuses, Adversarial) • Committees (Delegated authority by the body)

  4. Types of Committees • Policy • Fiscal • Administrative • Special (bicameral, ad hoc, multi-disciplinary, etc)

  5. Leadership Structure Senate • Lt. Governor, President of the Senate • Real power: separate Senate leaders House • The Speaker

  6. Functions of Leadership • Develop committee structure • Appoint committee members • Refer proposals to committees • Determine the agenda of the chamber • Develop Party/Policy Objectives • Build unity in the caucus • Committee chair (gavel as a Fief)

  7. Part II Procedures for Enacting Laws

  8. Early Steps • Legislator introduces a bill • Bill referred to policy committee • Public hearing (non-partisan analysis, public testimony) • Executive Session (caucuses, amendments, votes)

  9. Fiscal Committees The Killing Fields • House Education Appropriations and Oversight Committee • House Ways and Means Committee • House Transportation Committee • House Capitol Budget Committee • Senate Ways and Means Committee • Senate Transportation Committee

  10. Fiscal Committees What goes there? • $50,000 impact threshold • Interest of the Chair Special atmosphere • Public access more limited • Extremely compressed timeframes

  11. Rules Committee • Approves bills to move to the floor calendar • Two-step process • Erratic meeting schedule • No hearings, no testimony • Zenith of individualism

  12. Floor Action • Calendars • Caucus • Floor action • Amendments • Roll Call Vote

  13. Personality Profiles (Stereotypes!) House Senate Older More collegial Relationship-focus What’s the rush? Less so (“average folks”) Less rigorous schedule More staff support Prerogatives of the individual Senator • Younger • More partisan • Issue-focus • Stronger urgency • “Average folks” • Longer hours • Less funding • More leadership-driven

  14. Governor • Signs bills into law • Vetoes (partial, full) • Appoints task forces • Initiates budget development • Executive agencies • Office of Financial Management • Governor’s proposed budget

  15. Part III Hot Issues

  16. Three Issues in Olympia • Economy, Revenue, Budget • Economy, Revenue, Budget • Economy, Revenue, Budget

  17. Economy

  18. Revenue

  19. 40 Years of Budgets

  20. Strategies for Filling Budget Gaps

  21. Higher Ed in the Budget

  22. Higher Ed Losing Budget Share

  23. Why are cuts so deep in higher ed? About two-thirds of the state budget is considered off-limits or at least ‘lots more difficult’ to cut • K-12 education and the Constitution • Debt service • Pension payments • Federal matching fund requirements

  24. Financial Aid in 2011-13 Budget • State Need Grant already underfunded $196 Million (25,677 unserved eligible students) • State Need Grant funding increased to $570 Million (from about $417 M 2009-11) (FY 13 funding $302 million) • State Work Study received $15.6 million (Reduction of two-thirds)

  25. Why Did SNG Buck the Trend? • Policy of keeping pace with public sector tuition hikes • 71% of SNG funding increase from 2001 to 2010 driven by tuition policy (remainder includes more qualifying students, higher income eligibility)

  26. Sizing Current Problem

  27. More Cuts Being Discussed • State Budget is $1.3 billion out of balance • There is no reserve • About $2 billion in further cuts are likely

  28. What are we talkin’? • Big cuts to public institution appropriations (maybe 15% - $240 million) • Complete elimination of funds for State Work Study

  29. What are we talkin’ - SNG? • 10% cut to SNG immediately ($22 million/yr) • Deeper cuts under discussion • SNG cut of $60 million? (20% of the program) • SNG cut twice that size?

  30. What Can You Do? • Gather your data • Inform campus leaders, colleagues • Organize students (social media, student newspapers, etc.) • SaveStudentAid.org • Call and/or write to legislators, governor • Avoid harsh criticism – focus on the importance and benefits

  31. Opportunity, Choice, Success • Contact Information • Chris Thompson • Independent Colleges of Washington • (206) 623-4494 • Chris@ICWashington.org • SaveStudentAid.org • Facebook.com/IndependentCollegesWA • Twitter.com/ICW

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