Legislative year comes to a close with the best education budget in state history!
Dear
Friends,
That’s all,
folks! On July 10, the special legislative session came to a close and we adjourned for the year. I am happy to report the
Legislature was able to complete its work on the 2015-17 operating and capital
budgets, as well as the bills related to those budgets.
As a wrap-up, I wanted to offer you my
impressions of the session and the operating
budget, as well as highlight some important bills that passed the
Legislature.
The historic education budget
The new bipartisan state budget,
which passed the Legislature with the highest margin of support in 65 years, is
truly historic in its level of support for education. We've increased K-12
funding by 19 percent, made the largest percentage increase in state history
and the single largest dollar increase in basic education in state history as
well.
The
turnaround in education support since Republicans took control in the Senate is
extraordinary. This is truly an education-first budget, with new spending going
more than 3:1 in favor of education – in line with the state constitution,
which makes providing for basic education our top priority. K-12 state funding
per pupil is up more than $1,250 in the new budget; it was $6,770 in 2012. This
increase takes per-pupil spending to an all-time high of $9,000, which is a
$2,300 jump since our Majority Coalition took control of the Senate in 2013.
Senate Republicans win college affordability
fight!
Tuition rates cut!
As I am sure you have
heard, this budget actually cuts tuition for the first time in state history as
well. Over the next two years, students
at WSU-Tri-Cities will see a $2,016 reduction in tuition; students at Central
Washington University will see a $1,686 tuition cut. Our students at
community and technical schools will also see a 5 percent reduction
immediately. This type of relief is historic, and is being highlighted by state
and national media as a model for other states to follow.
House
Democrats fought us on our college-affordability plan all the way up until the
end, but it’s a good thing we stuck to our guns and prevailed. More than
200,000 students will benefit from this tuition relief that is equivalent to a
quarter-billion dollar tax cut for middle-income families.
Taking care of our state employees
This budget
also takes care of our teachers and state employees who were forced to go through
most of the recession without a state-funded pay raise. Teachers will receive
their 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) plus a one-biennium pay
increase of 1.8 percent. The budget also fully funds state-employee contracts, and
the pay increases for state workers included in them.
Helping our seniors, veterans and most
vulnerable
The budget also gives
some much-needed property-tax relief to seniors and disabled veterans by
increasing the state’s property-tax exemption qualification. This change will help more than 100,000
seniors and disabled veterans remain in their homes.
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This year
the Legislature also passed a bill to help our veterans use their G.I. Bill
benefits at state-run colleges and universities. Senate Bill 5355 changes the state
definition of “resident student” to accommodate changes in federal law.
Lawmakers
also fully-funded last year’s VIP act, expanding
respite opportunities to 4,000 families and expanding employment to more than
1,000 individuals with developmental disabilities.
Protecting taxpayers
What makes
this year’s accomplishments even more remarkable is that all of this was done without
general tax increases. Our Senate majority won the tax battle, fending off some
of the largest tax increase proposals in state history (cap-and-trade, carbon
tax, low-carbon fuel standards, capital-gains income tax and taxes on small businesses).
As we told Governor Inslee way back in January, with state government set to
collect more than $3 billion in additional revenue, there is simply no need for
new taxes.
Since our
side began leading the Senate in 2013 we have kept taxes in check, despite the
attempts by our liberal friends to impose new taxes. Balancing budgets within
the available revenue year after year leads to the sort of tax stability that
is good for Washington families and employers.
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Invest in Washington Jobs pilot program signed into law
Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. As chair of the Senate Trade and Economic Development Committee, making Washington attractive to current and potential future employers is one of my top priorities.
That's why I am so excited about the passage of the Invest in Washington Jobs pilot program. As you may recall, this plan was originally in Senate Bill 5112, a measure I sponsored earlier this year. The legislation was rolled into Senate Bill 6057, the state's economic-development package and signed by the governor on June 30.
Invest in Washington is a game-changer in how the state looks at economic development. For the first time, we get the state out of the business of picking winners and losers through targeted tax exemptions, and instead create a means for manufacturing employers to self-select by choosing to create jobs in our state.
The Invest in Washington Jobs pilot program will provide an incentive for businesses to invest in machinery equipment and job force training for manufacturing projects by allowing them to defer taxes and use that money up front when they need it most.
It’s a win-win for the employer and the worker!
SMR siting study and nuclear taskforce both
included in new budget
While the House of
Representatives failed to act on many of the important measures I sponsored
this year to support clean, carbon-free nuclear power, there was some excellent
news on that front.
The new
budget provides $176,000 for the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council
to conduct a siting study for small modular reactors (SMRs). This language was
originally in Senate Bill 5115, which I introduced earlier this year.
EFSEC’s job
is to coordinate evaluations and licensing actions for siting energy facilities
in the state. The study it will conduct will identify possible locations where
SMRs could be built, as well as examine what permits and processes would be needed
in order to facilitate SMR sitings.
The council will
also make recommendations on how the siting and permitting process for these
modern reactors could be streamlined; its findings and recommendations to the
Legislature and the governor are due by December 1.
In addition
to the SMR study, the budget also includes a reauthorization for the Joint
Select Task Force on Nuclear Energy. Under the budget provisions, our
eight-member legislative taskforce will continue to study the generation of
nuclear energy in the region. This taskforce’s work resulted in many of the
bills I introduced this session involving nuclear energy and nuclear-related
jobs. I look forward to continuing my service on the taskforce.
In conclusion…
Even though this historic legislative year has finally come to a close, I
work for you year-round and always welcome your thoughts and feedback on issue
facing our state. You can contact me anytime via email at Sharon.Brown@leg.wa.gov
or by calling at (360) 786-7614.
Thank you
for the honor of representing you in the Washington State Senate.
Sincerely,
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 Sharon Brown
State Senator
8th District
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