SF 2009 – Expand Preschool to Five Year Olds
SF 2092 – FY18 Categorical – Supplemental State Aid
SF 2093 – FY18 Basic School Funding – Supplemental State Aid
SSB 3047 – BOEE Fee Increase Rule Nullification, Carryover Cap & Fee Increase Prohibition
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 2092 sets the categorical state supplemental aid/allowable growth rate at 4 percent for FY18. Based on a 4 percent growth rate in FY17 (still to be decided), this means a 4 percent increase in FY18 categorical funding totals $541 million, an increase of $73 million compared to the previous year. In 2008, the Legislature provided a categorical state supplemental aid formula for three long-standing education line-item appropriations. These appropriations are 100 percent state aid: Teacher Quality and Phase II, Professional Development and Early Intervention (also known as Class-size reduction money), and the Teacher Leadership Compensation Program.
Funding amounts (including Area Education Agencies) for each initiative include:
- Teacher Salary Supplement: $306.8 million, or an $11.8 million increase
- Professional Development: $34.8 million, or a $1.3 million increase
- Class-size Reduction, Early Intervention: $35.8 million, or a $1.4 million increase
- Teacher Leadership Compensation: $163.6 million, a $58.5 million increase
[2/9: 26-24 (party-line)]
SF 2093 is the basic school funding bill for FY18. It sets supplemental state aid/allowable growth at 4 percent for the 2017-18 school year. Assuming a 4 percent increase for FY17 (still to be decided in conference committee), FY18 would total $3.369 billion, an increase of $188.7 million compared to FY17. At 4 percent, the state cost per pupil funding would increase from $ $6,704 to $6,972 (a $268 increase). The budget guarantee represents $1.6 million in local property taxes to reach the 101 percent funding level provided by the guarantee. There would be 35 school districts on the budget guarantee.
[2/9: 26-24 (party-line)]
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 2009 expands the statewide preschool program for four-year-old children to also include five-year-old children who have not previously enrolled in a preschool program. Students still can only attend one year of state-funded preschool, but this bill allows parents to choose if they want that year to be when their child is four or five years old. The bill applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2017.
[2/10: short form (Hogg, Zaun excused)]
SSB 3047 allows the Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) to retain 100 percent of the funds from any licensing fee increase adopted by rule in 2015 and applies retroactively. The committee adopted a strike-all amendment that nullifies the 2015 BOEE fee increase rule (ARC 2131C), caps the BOEE’s carry-forward at $650,000, and prohibits any new fee increase for the FY16 and FY17 (one and half years). The prohibition on fee increases is included so that the BOEE doesn’t submit a new rule proposal to raise fees since the rule nullification only applies to ARC 2131C rule specifically.
[2/10: short form (Hogg, Zaun excused)]