Olympia update: Legislature Passes First Two Cutoff Dates in 2017 Session

Two key dates have occurred so far on the legislative session’s cutoff calendar. February 17 was the house of origin policy committee cutoff and February 24 was the house of origin fiscal committee cutoff, dates when proposed legislation needed to have been passed out of policy committees and bills that impact the budget passed out of fiscal committees in order to remain viable for consideration. The house of origin cutoff is March 8, at which time House bills will need to have been passed out of the House of Representatives and Senate bills voted out of the Senate in order to be considered in the opposite chamber.

Key bills with impact to Western that are currently still viable for consideration this session include:

• HB 1293 – Concerning witnessing a student’s College Bound Scholarship pledge when efforts to obtain a parent’s or guardian’s signature are unsuccessful;
• HB 1333/SB 5234 – Requiring establishment of a system-wide credit policy regarding AP exams;
• HB 1433 – Decoupling services and activities fees from tuition;
• HB 1437 – Adding a faculty member to the board of regents at the research universities;
• HB 1440 – Establishing the Student Loan Bill of Rights;
• HB 1488 – Expanding eligibility for the College Bound Scholarship to students who qualify for resident tuition under the “1079” category;
• HB 1512 – Expanding income eligibility for the College Bound Scholarship (CBS) award to 125 percent of the state’s median family income, expanding a student’s initial eligibility for the CBS to the seventh and eighth grade instead of just the seventh grade, and allowing eligible students to sign a CBS pledge in the ninth or tenth grade if they were previously ineligible in the seventh or eighth grade as a Washington student;
• HB 1561 – Requiring the Student Achievement Council to administer the Open Educational Resources Grant Pilot Program for the public, four-year institutions of higher education;
• SB 5100 – Requiring live financial literacy seminars for students at institutions of higher education;
• SB 5525 – Requiring four-year institutions to hire mental health counselors to work with military personnel, veterans, and their families;
• SB 5584 – Requiring Senate confirmation for persons appointed to serve as president of a Washington four-year institution;
• SB 5684 – Creating the higher education infrastructure investment program;
• SB 5764 – Exempting survivor communications with, and records maintained by, campus-affiliated advocates from public record disclosure requirements, except in certain circumstances;
• SB 5820 – Establishing a minimum grade point average requirement for continued eligibility for State Need Grant awards.

Stay tuned to the Western Legislative Review for updates from Olympia as the session progresses. You can sign up for email updates at https://wp.wwu.edu/wlr/ and WWU Government Relations is available on Twitter here.