Flower bulbs are peeking up out of the dirt on the grounds of the Capitol and in my own yard so that is my hopeful image of “change” for this week. With so much change swirling around each day, it’s nice to know that sweet daffodils and tulips will be arriving soon to usher in spring.
This week marks a change in the Legislature as the first important cut-off is today when bills must pass out of policy committees to remain alive. Many bills were introduced but ultimately not moved, partly due to the reality that the state cannot fund additional programs and policies. We are about one-third of the way through the legislative session now and next week the action turns to the fiscal committees when any bills with budgetary implications have hearings. Those bills must pass out of their committees by Friday, February 28. The hard work moving forward will be about the budget, although before I turn to that I will highlight some important policy pieces that continue to move.
Important policy pieces
Restraint and Isolation
HB 1795 is the Restraint and Isolation bill for this year, since the Senate Education Committee did not act on their bill. It passed out of the House Education Committee this week without any amendments. Legislators intend to amend the bill on the House floor when it comes up for a vote. Here are some documents that describe the bill if you are interested in reading more and suggesting any specific changes for us to relay to legislators. For example, section 4 of the bill increases reporting requirements for principals and we could suggest striking this section as an amendment.
Graduation Garb
HB 1393 would allow students to wear one item of cultural significance at their commencement ceremony. This is a bipartisan bill and there is some good language in there about ensuring that items do not conflict with the decorum requirements of the district or cause a substantial disruption. We generally agree with this but have had conversations with people who want to ensure local control and have thoughts about needing to tighten up the process around this. If you have thoughts on this bill, please let me know.
Flavored Tobacco and Vapor Products
HB 1203 would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vapor products and it continues to move. While there is great concern from the business community about this bill, they have supported HB 1534 which would create stronger regulations for vapor products through a registry and increased penalties for stores that sell these products to minors. We will be meeting soon with a stakeholder group made up of people from both sides of the issue to talk through these bills.
Retired Educators
Several bills related to extending the opportunity for retired educators to continue working in schools while receiving their pensions remain alive. HB 1936 would extend this to 2027 and HB 1988/SB 5738 would extend this to 2029. Principals and Superintendents would continue to be eligible to work in these roles in second-class school districts for up to 1,040 hours in a school year, which is important for our small and rural districts.
Discipline Rules
As you know, OSPI released emergency discipline rules related to classroom exclusions at the start of the school year. They have now opened public comment on the proposed permanent rules, and we strongly encourage you to submit feedback to OSPI to ensure that building perspectives are heard. There are several ways you can provide feedback. You can send written comments to StudentDiscipline@k12.wa.us by March 19, or you can attend a virtual hearing on March 4 via Zoom. You can also show up in person at one of four locations across the state. For more details, read my blog here.
Parents’ Bill of Rights
HB 1296 and SB 5181 are two different bills that the Democrats introduced this session in response to I-2081, the Parents’ Bill of Rights Initiative from last session. There has been a lot of conversation, concern, and emotion over these bills. For a thorough review of the issues, read this article from the Washington Observer
Budget
The budget news isn’t getting much better as we move through the session. We are hearing that legislators are creating several budgets, some with new revenue sources and some without. We are hearing that K-12 education may get a tiny bit more money, but it certainly doesn’t seem like it will be the $1 billion that is needed to fund the “Big 3”.
Continuing current services in K-12 education (or “maintenance level” funding) includes $1.2 billion to meet the COLAs for educators. But the estimated budget shortfall for 2025-27 is the amount that the estimated maintenance level exceeds existing resources, which the Washington Research Council estimates to be $4.8 billion for 2025-27. How legislators address this shortfall involves complex budget decisions they will make over the next two months.
And, for some additional sobering news, read this article from the House Democrats about what Governor Inslee’s “Book 1” budget (or “No Revenue” budget) looks like. This budget was done at the same time he released his “Book 2” budget in December, when he suggested a new wealth tax to pay for state commitments and programs. Whether Governor Ferguson is open to new taxes or sources of revenue remains to be seen.
Bills Heard This Week
Monday
House Education–Executive Session
- HB 1051 – Permitting the recording of individualized education program team meetings.
- HB 1079 – Supporting remote testing options for students enrolled in online school programs.
- HB 1257 – Extending special education services to students with disabilities until the end of the school year in which the student turns 22.
- HB 1273 – Improving student access to dual credit programs.
- HB 128
