Legislative Committee Schedule: Week 1

January 9 - 13, 2017

Monday, January 9

9 a.m., Joint Education Funding Task Force, HHR A

Agenda:

1.       Discussion and adoption of Education Funding Task Force recommendations to the Legislature.

2.       Public comment.

1:30 p.m., House Education, HHR A

Work Session: An Overview of Washington's K-12 System.

1.       K-12 System Overview.

2.       Roles and Responsibilities for K-12 Education in Washington -- Part One.

3:30 p.m., House Appropriations, HHR A

Work Session:

1.       Introduction of members.

2.       Committee procedures and expectations.

3.       Presentation of the Governor's 2017-2019 biennial and 2017 supplemental operating budget proposals.

Public Hearing:

1.       Governor's 2017-2019 operating budget proposal.

2.       Governor's 2017 supplemental operating budget proposal.

The public hearing will be continued Thursday, January 12, if necessary.

                                                                                                                                                                      

Tuesday, January 10

1:30 p.m., House Education, HHR A

Work Session: Roles and Responsibilities for K-12 Education in Washington -- Part Two.

3:30 p.m., House Capital Budget, HHR B

Work Session: K-12 School Construction.

                                                                                                                                                                      

Wednesday, January 11

3:30 p.m., House Appropriations, HHR A

Public Hearing: HB 1059 - Delaying implementation of revisions to the school levy lid. (If measure is referred to committee.)

Work Session: Overview of the operating budget process, structure, and other considerations.

3:30 p.m., Senate Ways & Means, SHR 4

Public Hearing: Governor's Proposed Operating Budget.

1.       K-12 Public Schools.

2.       Higher Education.

3.       Early Learning.

4.       Employee Compensation.

5.       Mental Health.

6.       Other Human Services.

7.       Natural Resources.

8.      All Other.

                                                                                                                                                                        

Thursday, January 12

8 a.m., House Education, HHR A

Work Session: A History of Education Reform in Washington.

1:30 p.m., Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education, SHR 1

Work Session:

1.       Introductions.

2.       Committee Operating Procedures.

3.       Historical overview of education funding and governance of Early Learning and K-12 Education in Washington.

4.       2017-19 Operating Budget Overview.

3:30 p.m., House Appropriations, HHR A

Public Hearing: (continuation of Monday, January 9, public hearing if it is needed)

1.       Governor's 2017-2019 operating budget proposal.

2.       Governor's 2017 supplemental operating budget proposal.

Possible Executive Session: HB 1059 - Delaying implementation of revisions to the school levy lid. (If measure is referred to committee.)

3:30 p.m., Senate Ways & Means, SHR 4

Public Hearing: Governor's Proposed Capital Budget.

1.       K-12 Public Schools.

2.       Higher Education.

3.       Mental Health.

4.       Natural Resources.

5.       All Other.

                                                                                                                                                                       

Friday, January 13

8 a.m., House Capital Budget, HHR B

Work Session: Presentation by the Office of Financial Management on Governor Inslee's proposed 2017-19 Capital Budget and 2017 Supplemental Capital Budget.

Public Hearing:

1.       Governor's Proposed 2017-19 Capital Budget and 2017 Supplemental Capital Budget.

2.       Governor's Proposed State General Obligation Bonds.

Governor Releases Education Budget, Asks for $3.9B in New K-12 Funding

Kicking off the 2017 budget proposals to resolve the “McCleary problem,” Governor Jay Inslee released his education and revenue budgets today, with a request for $3.9 billion in total spending over the two-year budget cycle. In a Monday preview, staff indicated that nearly two-thirds of the funding would boost compensation for all educators and add professional development for teachers and para-educators. 

At the top of the list is shifting the burden for compensation from local levies to the state. Inslee borrowed a page from the Technical Compensation Work Group that completed its recommendations in June 2012. The budget proposals start with increased salaries for beginning teachers, increasing the starting salary from $35,700 to $44,976 in FY18, and $54,587 in FY19. The salary bump would include 30 hours of professional development in the first year, and 80 hours of professional development in year two.

 

Also in the mix are:

•       Teacher and principal mentoring and alternative routes for teacher preparation.

•       Funding to close the opportunity gap, including investments in K-3 class size reduction; adding 1.0 FTE per prototypical school to support the addition of school counselors and nurses, social workers, psychologists, and family engagement coordinators; a $50 million increase to the Learning Assistance Program; truancy reduction; funding to support educational outcomes for students in foster care; and mentoring for struggling students.

•       Career-connected learning; $12.3 million for CTE MSOC; and additional funding for the highly capable students program. 

 

The revenue side of the equation

To fund his education budget, Governor Inslee is proposing a tax on professional services, instituting a capital gains tax on high-income gains that is estimated to affect about 30,000 individuals, and a carbon tax. Inslee rejected an increase in property tax, or a property tax “swap” that has been suggested by others. In fact, according to staff, under the proposed levy and local effort assistance reform plan, taxpayers in more than 100 school districts where the levy rate is above 24 percent would see their property taxes reduced.

 

Take it to the levy

With the significant infusion of state funding for basic education, Governor Inslee has proposed holding local levies for 2018 at current law plans, which would mean allowing the levy lid to roll back to 24 percent, maintain grandfathered districts at their rollback level, and eliminate ghost money in the levy base. In 2019, the proposal would decrease all school district levies to 15 percent, would eliminate grandfathering and would not include ghost money in the base. The annual per pupil inflator would be dramatically increased, to 16.35 in FY18, and 21.4 PPI in FY19, ostensibly to avoid significant impact and the levy cliff. 

Compensation phase-in

The education budget proposal would phase in the increases in compensation, based on the following chart:

In addition, the Salary Allocation Model (SAM) would be collapsed. The result would be:

•       Beginning educator: $54,587 with Bachelor’s degree; $58,954 with advanced degree       

•       2^nd tier certification: $65,504 with Bachelor’s degree; $70,745 with advanced degree

•       2^nd tier certification and 10 years of experience: $78,605 with Bachelor’s degree; $84,883 with advanced degree

For professional development, the Governor’s budget proposes 30 hours for FY18, and 80 hours for FY19, which are included within the salary amounts in the chart and SAM above. Professional development would be 50/50 self-directed and district-directed. On the self-directed, the training would need to focus on social and emotional learning, cultural competency, and closing the opportunity gap. The district-directed training would not be legislated, but the proposed two-year spending plan would eliminate about $5 million currently appropriated for teacher and principal evaluation training, so any TPEP-related training would come from the district-directed professional development. 

 

SPI-elect weighs in

In response to the Governor’s spending request, Superintendent of Public Instruction-elect Chris Reykdal, who joined Inslee for the announcement, said, “This is an outstanding budget for public education. It’s great for our kids, and is a solid plan forward. I’m excited to partner with Governor Inslee and the Legislature to fully, amply and equitably fund education.”

Links to budget information:

Budget highlights

Education highlights

Governor’s budget press conference

Marie Sullivan

WSPTA Legislative Consultant

LegConsultant@wastatepta.org

Budget Deal Struck, Legislature Returns to Work

The state Senate returned to Olympia Monday afternoon, starting with overrides on 27 Senate bills vetoed by Governor Jay Inslee March 10^th.  Inslee issued the vetoes as a way to encourage legislators to get supplemental budgets completed, and has indicated that with an agreed-upon operating budget, he would not object to either chamber overriding the vetoes. 

The Senate bills now move to the House for its consideration of override votes. Bills that receive the two-thirds override in both chambers will not  go back to the Governor, but go to the Secretary of State’s office to be assigned a chapter law number.

House members also returned Monday afternoon to get a briefing on the proposed compromise supplemental operating budget.  A number of bills have been pulled to the floor, including the budget bills.  Look for HB 2380 (capital budget) and ESHB 2376 (operating budget) to move first in the House. House members begin work Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. The House is expected to go to caucus after it convenes, but should vote on the budget bills today and send them to the Senate for action.

Also of interest to WSPTA members is the newly introduced HB 3009 (on March 24^th) which would allow time spent eating a morning meal in the classroom to count as instructional time if instruction is also taking place. This bill replaces the “Breakfast after the Bell” bill, which failed to pass by the end of regular session. No funding is included in the compromise operating budget for one-time start-up grants at schools that adopt a morning meal program after the school day starts. 

The compromise operating budget also includes funding for beginning teachers, students who are homeless, students in the foster youth system, and to implement aspects of the education opportunity gap bill - all of which passed during the regular session. The bill also includes about a net of $4 million for charter schools (SB 6194), which has not been scheduled for a Governor bill signing yet. 

Legislation to extend an increase in school district levy authority from 2018 to 2019 will not be proposed during the special session. The compromise operating budget includes Section 515 which states the legislature's intent to adopt compensation and levy reform measures by April 1, 2017, or to introduce legislation to extend the authority another year if action by the end of session seems unlikely. 

If all goes according to House and Senate leadership plans, work should conclude by the end of Tuesday, the 20th day of the first special session. 

Marie Sullivan
Legislative Consultant
LegConsultant@wastatepta.org

Breakfast after the Bell Among Bill Survivors

As the legislature counts down to the March 10th end of a regular session, the schedule for bill deadlines is becoming even more compressed. Last Wednesday, February 17 marked the cutoff for bills to pass out of the chamber in which they started. The next cutoff is Friday, February 26, when bills must have passed the opposite chamber’s policy committee to remain in play.

At cutoff, the Senate abandoned its efforts to change elements of a pre-session agreed-upon bill that would create a legislative work group to resolve compensation issues and reduce state reliance on local levies. Adopting the version (ESHB 2366) that came over from the House, the Senate voted 26-23 to pass E2SSB 6195.

In a surprise move last Thursday, where the bill didn’t get a hearing or follow the regular bill vetting process, E2SSB 6195 passed the House 66-31. The bill is waiting for signatures from the Speaker and President of the Senate before being delivered to the Governor. The Governor will then have five days, not including Sundays, to sign or veto the bill.

A couple of bills that failed to make the February 17th deadline included SHB 2820, the Washington Promise Scholarship, and SHB 2955, creating a free-to-finish college grant.

Here’s a quick look at bills WSPTA has been tracking.

WSPTA Top Priorities

Fully Fund McCleary
In addition to E2SSB 6195, the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee will hear the levy cliff bill on Monday, February 22 at 1:30. HB 2698 would extend additional levy authority one more year, through January 1, 2019. This would give school districts another year before they are required to adjust their levy authority down by four percent, with an additional two percent reduction in state-funded local effort assistance. The bill also sets up a Transitional LEA Account for the 2017-19 biennium.

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning
SHB 2381 would direct the Professional Educator Standard Board to convene a 10-member task force on school counselors, psychologists, and social workers. The task force would review: (1) the projected need of school districts for school counselors, psychologists, and social workers; (2) the capacity of the state for meeting this need; (3) alternative certification routes for school counselors and social workers; and (4) school counselor, psychologist, and social worker preparation programs. Recommendations from the task force would be due by December 1, 2016. The bill has not been scheduled for a hearing at this time.

2SSB 6243 would require Educational Service Districts to work with Forefront of the University of Washington to develop a two-day youth suicide prevention training program for middle and high school administrators, teachers, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and parents or guardians.

Other elements of the bill include:

• By September 1, 2017, OSPI would create and maintain an online social and emotional training module for educators, administrators, and other school district staff, based on the recommendations of the Social and Emotional Learning Benchmarks Workgroup.
• School districts and ESDs would report one-time data to OSPI on how many students are served by mental health services in each school, school district, or educational service district; how many of these students are participating in Medicaid programs; how the mental health services are funded, including federBal, state, and private sources; information on who provides the mental health services, including district employees and contractors; and any other available information related to student access and outcomes. OSPI would compile this data into an inventory of the mental health service models available to students through schools, school districts, and educational service districts. An inventory report would be due October 31, 2016.

The House Education Committee will take public testimony on the bill Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Increasing Capital Funding
HB 2968 recognizes the pressure that smaller K-3 class sizes and the expansion of all-day kindergarten have had on school districts and sets a goal of making $1 billion in construction and facility grants available over the next 10 years. In an attempt to meet the demand for the K-3/all-day kindergarten grant program created in 2015, the bill would add $187 million during this budget cycle, and would divert one-half of one percent from the budget stabilization account (Rainy Day Fund) to the Education Construction Account through 2025. The bill passed out of the House Capital Budget Committee and is likely to be paired with the 2016 supplemental capital budget for a vote on the House floor.

On Friday, Heidi Bennett represented Washington State PTA on a panel in support of HB 1941/HJR 4210, legislation that would allow bonds to pass by a simple majority when conducted at the November general election. The nearly hour-long hearing included stories from students, school administrators, parents, school advocates, and school board members – all of whom urged the House Education Committee to act on the legislation this session.

Increased Access to Higher Education

As mentioned above, the Washington Promise Scholarship and the Free to Finish grant program did not pass the House in time to remain under consideration. The Senate kept several bills alive, all of which are up for executive action February 24.

These include:

• SSB 6354 would require four-year institutions of higher education to work with the State Board of Community & Technical Colleges to develop plans that would facilitate the reverse transfer of academic credits from four-year institutions to community & technical colleges.
• 2SSB 6601 would establish the Washington College Savings Program to provide an additional financial option for individuals, organizations and families to save for college. 
• SB 6626 would create a “Degree in Three” work group to develop a set of institutional best practices to promote a student’s ability to successfully graduate with a baccalaureate degree within three years at Washington public regional universities and The Evergreen State College.

Breakfast after the Bell
The Senate education committee will take public testimony on E3SHB 1295, on Tuesday, February 23 at 1:30 p.m. The bill would require schools that have 70 percent of students meeting federal eligibility for free or reduced price meals to offer school breakfast after the school day starts, beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The program would not be considered basic education for ongoing purposes. School districts would select which of the types of breakfast after the bell programs it wants to implement. In addition, the bill calls for schools to receive a one-time start-up grant of $6,000 to implement the program.

The bill also includes a couple of amendments that were added on the House floor and that are opposed by the School Nutrition Association. One that appears somewhat problematic for school districts is a requirement to serve breakfast items that can’t be more than 25 percent of their weight in sugar. A typical Clif bar is 31 percent sugar by weight. The association has several amendments it will seek on the bill that return it to pre-floor amendment status.

The Senate bill that incorporated a similar program failed to pass by the February 17th deadline. The House Bill is expected to pass out of the Senate policy committee, but could run into issues in the Senate budget committee or on the Senate floor due to opposition. The United Way of King County is holding a “virtual day of advocacy” on Thursday, February 25th to encourage all supporters to contact their senators and ask them to support HB 1295.

WSPTA Platform Issues

• HB 1345 would require the development of a consistent definition for professional learning. Sponsors say this is a step needed before funding professional development days. The bill was heard February 18 and had no opposition. 
• 2SHB 1408 would convene a work group to develop a consistent definition and framework of responsibilities for family engagement coordinators. Sponsors say securing a common name, definition and framework will make it possible to enhance funding for these positions in schools across the state and at all grade levels in 2017. The bill is scheduled for public hearing on February 23rd in the Senate education committee. 
• 4SHB 1541 would implement recommendations of the Education Opportunity Gap Oversight & Accountability Committee for closing the achievement and opportunity gaps. Elements include data dis-aggregation; school discipline; requiring ELL endorsements for teachers in the state-funded Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program; cultural competency; and more. The bill is scheduled for public hearing on February 23rd in the Senate education committee. 
• 4SHB 1999 would increase support for students in the foster youth system. The bill was heard February 18. 
• SB 6245 would require school districts to offer near and far vision screening. It is scheduled for public hearing in the House Education Committee on Monday, February 22 at 1:30 p.m. 
• 2SSB 6408 would require a certificate/licensure for paraeducators, including training and alternative routes to teacher certification, and a one-year field test for interested school districts. It is also scheduled for public hearing February 22 in House Education.

House Supplemental Budgets to be Released this Week

Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, the House Appropriations Committee Chair, plans to release his 2016 supplemental operating budget on Monday about noon, hold a public hearing at 3:30 p.m., vote the budget out of committee on Tuesday, and vote the budget off the House floor by Thursday. Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, the House Capital Budget Chair, plans to release a bipartisan-crafted 2016 supplemental capital budget on Wednesday, with a possible committee vote on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The House has tentatively scheduled floor action for Saturday.

Friday also marks the last day for policy bills to pass out of committee for opposite chamber bills; Monday is the fiscal cutoff, and March 4 at 5 p.m. is the final day for bills to pass out of the opposite chamber.

For its part, Senate Ways & Means Committee Chair Andy Hill, R-Redmond, may release his version of the 2016 supplemental operating budget this week (rumor has it Wednesday) or he could wait until the following Monday. The Senate capital budget will be released soon afterwards.

Marie Sullivan
WSPTA Legislative Consultant
LegConsultant@wastatepta.org

School Superintendent Randy Dorn Offers Fully Funded "Go-Home" McCleary Proposal

Citing the need to take the discussion on resolving the McCleary Lawsuit to a new level, State School Superintendent Randy Dorn introduced his plan to fully fund McCleary last week at a press conference in Olympia.  The proposal would extend the phase-in of McCleary to 6 years in order to leave time to recruit and train enough teachers and support staff to meet class size reduction requirements.  Unlike current plans on the table, the Dorn Plan funds class size reductions for K-12 and require fully funding teacher compensation at the state level.  His revenue proposal was rolled out in an additional press conference on Monday morning and is described below in a separate article.

A Tale of the House and Senate Budgets

With both the Senate and House budgets now seeing the light of day, there is time to compare and contrast them both. The non-partisan budget website run by the Legislative Evaluative and Accountability Program and the Office of Financial Management website compares the House and Senate budget's here.  That graphic goes deep into the weeds and develops a side by side fiscal comparison between the two proposals.  The key differences in the budgets are as follows:  

1) How revenue is generated for each proposal

2) Funding Higher Education

3) The approach to teacher and state employee cost of living increases

4) Level and extent given to funding capital dollars for school construction.

Senate Capital Budget with SB 6080 Shows Promise Towards McCleary, but Still Far Off Goal

The Senate Capital Budget Committee heard Substitute Senate Bill 6080 in committee last week. This was the second time the bill was heard and the PTA was able to participate in both hearings. The substitute senate bill made changes based on some recommendations offered by PTA issue team lead, Eden Mack. The bill creates a separate program allowing school districts to apply for grants to help fund additional K-3 classrooms due to the class size reduction requirements of McCleary.  The basic difference between the existing School Capital Assistance Program (SCAP) and the K-3 Grants is here.  The bill in its entirety is found here.

Social and Emotional Learning Marches Forward, Breakfast after the Bell Hits Snag

For the second year in a row, legislation mandating schools in high poverty areas to offer a healthy breakfast to hungry children has stalled in the legislature.  Last year, the bill came very close, but was unable to make the final hurdle.  The same thing happened again this year, only this time, the House and Governor's budget actually funded the issue in a line item only to have the Senate version fall short. 

House Passes Operating and Capital Budgets - Let the Negotiations Begin!

The House passed their operating budget on a party line vote, but passed a Capital Budget on a 96-2 bipartisan vote on Thursday.  The PTA has concerns with the capital budget as it does not go far enough to address the crushing need for classroom space.  The operating budget, although a major step forward, still falls short of one of the marquee goals of McCleary - reducing the reliance on local taxpayers to foot the bill for basic education.

The House and the Senate will now begin negotiations on how to resolve the yawning gap between both budgets. The good news is that there is agreement in expanding funding maintenance, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC), moving to all day kindergarten, and reducing class size to 17 for all K-3 classrooms. The bad news is that there is a wide gap between the House and Senate on costs for Higher Education, revenue addition / reform, and compensation for teachers and state employees.  
House Speaker Pro Tem, Jim Moeller, when asked by the Columbian, seemed resolved to the legislature going into special session to resolve the disagreements.   The PTA has talked with many legislators and our perspective is that the sea change that is required by McCleary may take more time than the 105 day regular session allows.  PTA Legislative Director Sherry Krainick shared this thought with members.  "We also understand that the legislature may go into extra innings, and we accept that as necessary to resolve the challenges that they have before them. I caution our PTA members to be supportive and let your legislators know that it is o'k to stay in Olympia longer so long as we make meaningful progress on McCleary. This is going to take time."

The legislature will resume floor action on April 6th

Senate Pulls an All Nighter - Still Working on Budget

The Senate ran a marathon hearing on the budget and related bills all day Thursday, ending their session at 4:17AM.  The day started with a debate on the rules of engagement.  The Senate majority passed a requirement that any amendment would require 60% of the body to pass.  The Senate broke for caucus several times, and engaged later in the day to run through a whopping 74 proposed amendments. Some of the amendments were withdrawn by the sponsor before introduction or tabled after a ruling, leaving over 50 that were heard and voted on in a roll call vote of the entire body. Due to the rules change, very few amendments passed. The speeches were impassioned and the tempers flared, but, in the end, the Senate made it through all but two of the proposals.  

On a positive note, one of the few proposals that did pass was an education amendment by Senator Warnick.  Her proposal funds a 1 million dollar grant to OSPI to contract with a non-profit to develop a program to integrate state learning standards in English language arts, mathematics, and science with outdoor field studies and project/work based learning opportunities that align with environmental, natural resources ,and agricultural professions.

The Senate will resume debate on the budget on April 6th

Some Good, Some Bad - Senate Budget Yields a Different View Than House

The Senate introduced its version of the budget on Wednesday.  Senator Andy Hill headed up the press conference and was flanked by most members of the Republican Caucus.  Both budgets fully funded MSOC , reduced K-3 class size, and funded all-day kindergarten, but the amount each budget determined to be necessary to meet that goal differed.  In addition, both budgets were balanced assuming a partial repeal of I-1351.  Senator Hill’s budget has actually offered legislation to that effect with Senate Bill 6088.  Neither budget, however significantly addressed the issue of local levies funding items that have been deemed to be part of basic education.  However, Senator Hill hinted that discussions on that issue are occurring.

The key differences between both budgets include:

1. House budget funds a portion of the improvements with new revenue, the Senate, although allowing some tax preferences to sunset, does not raise new revenue.
2. The House proposal to repeal parts of I-1351 does not have a referendum clause whereas the Senate version does.
3. The House includes teacher compensation and includes funding for health care benefits whereas the Senate comes in at a lower rate for compensation
4. The House funds state employee pay raises based on a percentage that has been negotiated with the Governor’s office and labor unions.  The Senate version offers an adjustment based on a $2,000 increase for the biennium – thereby raising low income workers by a higher percentage.
5. The House funds the tuition freeze that was voted out of the Senate.  The Senate doubles down by offering to pay for reductions of tuition for four year institutions by up to 25% by the end of the biennium.
6. Both budgets fund Social and Emotional Learning Study, but only the House addresses Breakfast after the Bell.  Senator Litzow has indicated that there is willingness to work on this issue all the way to the end of the session. 
7. Both budgets provide for enhanced early learning and child care, but the House funds it at a higher rate.

According to McCleary Lead Eden Mack who was on hand to testify today, “I am grateful for the increase in K-12 spending… (but) it clearly does not go far enough to meet the state’s obligation to amply fund K-12 education. “   Due to the legislature not making significant strides in addressing the use of local levies for funding teacher salaries, there are concerns that the Supreme Court may deliver sanctions to the Legislature shortly after the close of session.  Time will tell.

The Senate is currently hearing the budget in committee and will pass it from Ways and Means tonight.  It is planned to be voted off the Senate floor on Thursday.  For a side by side comparison of the House and Senate Education Budget, click here.

McCleary Funding - Better - But Still Falls Short

The Washington State House of Representatives offered up their version of the 2015-17 biennial budget today.  Representatives Patrick Sullivan, Ross Hunter and Reuven Carlyle held a press conference at 11:30AM.  As was widely expected, the House Democrats raised the bar on funding McCleary, but many people believe that even this effort falls short of what will be necessary to completely fund basic education.  Washington State PTA McCleary Issue Team lead Eden Mack reviewed the budget after the press conference.  She shared with us her thoughts on the long road that we will need to take in order to see the dream of an amply funded education system become a reality.  

"I think that our Legislators need to remember that the Paramount duty of the state is to amply fund basic education (K-12, not early learning or higher ed) for ALL children, not just some.  The House budget gets a bit closer to the mark, but it is still not nearly enough. As Superintendent Dorn has said, we need at least 4.5 billion more to meet McCleary this biennium just for operations, and 1.4 billion is far short of that.  With all of the proposed budgets currently on the table not meeting the mark, the question becomes: what sanctions will the Supreme Court bring down at the end of session?"

The House Budget proposal includes the following:

• K-3 Class Size Reduction - $412 million

• Textbooks, Supplies, and Operating Costs (MSOC) $741 million

• All Day Kindergarten - $180 million

• College and Career Readiness - $70 million

Funding for these changes are proposed to come from the following resources:

• 5% Capital Gains Tax on investors who receive $25,000 individually or $50,000 as a couple

• Raising the B&O Tax on services gross receipts from 1.5% to 1.8% and increasing the exemption for small business from $56,000 to $100,000

• Changing the rules on sales tax in border counties from exemption to reimbursement

• Repeal the exemption for bottled water

• Repeal exemption for extracted fuel

• Limit the real estate excise tax on foreclosure sales

• Eliminate the preferred B&O tax rate on royalty income, travel agents, and prescription drug re-sellers

After reviewing the proposal, Washington State PTA Legislative Director Sherry Krainick said "I feel this proposal may be the high water mark for McCleary funding."  She, along with others, expect a much smaller revenue package from the Senate.  “I think that unless there are some future attempts to expand revenue to address some of the shortfalls Eden mentioned, we still fall short.  The PTA will be eagerly anticipating the efforts by Senators on fulfilling the promise of McCleary.”

The budget will be heard Monday in committee, then voted on by the House Appropriations Committee the following day.  It is expected to be passed off the House Floor next week.  You can read the budget in its entirety here.