CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Board of Trustees February 21, 2020 Information - 2020 Legislature, Mid-Session Report
This summary was created on Feb. 12, 2020 was day 31 of the 60-day “short” legislative session. Legislators will enact policy bills as well as supplemental budgets, which adjust the underlying biennial budget. On Feb. 19, the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council provide budget writers an estimate of how much money is available for the 2020 budget; House and Senate budget proposals are expected to be unveiled in the week following. February 19 also is the deadline for bills to receive approval from the chamber in which they originated or they are considered dead—generally. CWU submitted three supplemental operating budget requests last fall; two found support in Governor Inslee’s proposed supplemental budget: 1.) Remote Supervision Technology - The legislature enacted E2SHB 1139 in 2019, which included a directive to CWU to acquire and deploy interactive camera systems in rural schools, allowing the remote supervision of student teachers. The provision was unfunded so CWU requested one-time funding of $155,000 to implement the technology systems. 2.) Police Sergeant Salary Compression - In the 2019 collective bargaining process, classified CWU Police Officers negotiated a salary increase that placed their compensation above that of their supervisors. CWU requested $180,000 in ongoing funding to cover the salary and benefits required to adjust sergeants’ pay above that of their direct reports. A third request was not included in the Inslee budget. In May 2019, the state updated the salary scale for employees who work in information technology fields. The total cost to CWU to implement the increases is $855,000 for the current biennium; the biennial budget only provided $260,000. CWU also requested funding to address the salary compression that resulted from these increases. In the capital budget, CWU’s top legislative priority this year is to obtain capital budget funding for campus safety infrastructure: $3.3 million to install electronic door locks on all exterior doors, to install a network of security cameras throughout the campus, and to enable the existing blue-light phones to serve as an outdoor announcement system. Legislators have been receptive to this proposal, which was included in the governor’s proposed capital budget. Other Higher Education Budget and Policy Bills Applied Doctoral Degrees at Comprehensive Universities - HB 1755 allows CWU and the other comprehensive universities to offer applied doctorate degrees in education, such as the Ed.D. The bill passed the House last year 95-2, but stalled in the Senate. The House has passed it again 95-1. B&O Surcharge Increase. The legislature passed and governor has signed into law a B&O surtax “patch.” In 2019, E2SHB 2158 created the workforce education investment account, funded through a new B&O tax surcharge. The fund provided $3.6 million in direct funding to CWU for employee compensation,
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