This Week in Olympia

For week of 2/18

Lobby Day

One hundred WEA members converged on Olympia on Monday for our annual lobby day. We presented nearly 2500 petition signatures in support of adding more school nurses, counselors, social workers, psychologists and professionals who support student mental and physical health. Then teams of educators fanned out to talk with legislators about our legislative priorities. 

Retirees

HB 1390 would provide the Plan 1 retirees with a COLA. It had a public hearing in the House Appropriations committee on Monday. WEA-Retired Vice President Mary Lindsey testified in support of this bill. WEA supports. 

K-12 

House Education passed HB 1599 and HB 1089, bills that would delink high school graduation from the results of standardized tests. A third delink bill, HB 1720 did not advance out of the House. The Senate Early Learning and K-12 committee passed an assessment-related bill, SSB 5548. WEA supports bills that delink high school graduation from standardized test results. 

SSB 5689 would provide anti-harassment protections for transgender students and for teachers using age appropriate LGBTQ curriculum directly tied to their content area. It passed out of committee on Friday. WEA supports. 

Under SB 5512 (HB 1621), pre-service students would have to take the basic skills test, but the school would determine pass/fail levels. The bills have passed out of each chambers’ education committees. WEA supports. 

SB 5465 would provide a much needed increase funding for institutional educational programs for our students at detention facilities. It passed out of Senate Early Learning & K-12 this week. WEA supports. 

Higher Education 

HB 2001 would provide scholarships for Native American students. It was heard in the House College and Workforce Development committee on Tuesday and passed out of committee on Wednesday. WEA supports. 

HB 1355 is a bill about staffing ratios and standards for CTC counselors. It was amended and passed out of committee. The amendment creates a joint legislative task force to examine standards and ratios, issues, best practices for counseling, how colleges will meet the mental health needs of students and staff, and whether legislation is needed to address the issues. 

Friday was the policy cut-off for session, meaning bills must be passed out of their originating committee to stay alive for the remainder of session. We will provide a full list next week of bills moving forward past cut-off. 

Next Week in Olympia 

Next week, nearly all the work conducted will be in fiscal committees because the fiscal cut-offs are at the end of the week.  Bills with a fiscal impact that have passed out of the policy committees will also have to be approved by a fiscal committee by the end of next week.  Committee agendas will be in flux all week.  We will be watching WEA priority bills and working to move them through the process.  As of now, we know of the following two bills that have been scheduled for hearings next week.

SSB 5313, Governor Inslee’s bill concerning school levies will receive a public hearing Monday in Senate Ways and Means. This bill would allow school districts district to choose a maximum levy lid of either 20 percent of the total state and federal funds or $3,500 per pupil. Levy equalization will be held harmless for one year.  WEA supports. 

On Thursday, Senate Ways and Means will hear SJR 8201 and SB 5066. These are the two bills necessary to implement a simple majority to pass school district bonds. WEA supports both of theses. 

Also on Thursday, WEA members Shannon McCann and Jenny Steele, with staff member Arden Watson, will participate in a work session in the Senate Early Education and K-12 committee. They will provide our voice in response to Superintendent Reykdal's school day recommendations.