BILL REQ. #:  S-5006.3 

READ FIRST TIME 03/11/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to prioritizing state revenue growth for education; adding a new section to chapter 43.135 RCW; creating a new section; and providing for submission of this act to a vote of the people.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   This act shall be known and cited as the kids first act.
     The legislature finds that over the last thirty years education has been a declining priority of the state budget. From 1981-1983 to 2011-2013, the growth rate in noneducation spending has been double that of education. This trend has diverted billions of dollars away from education and into nonparamount, nonconstitutionally mandated areas of the budget, resulting in significant real-life consequences including:
     (1) A state supreme court decision that the state has failed to provide ample funding for basic education in violation of the state Constitution;
     (2) Tuition rates at public universities and colleges that on average have doubled over the last decade and are among the highest in the nation, ranking in the top fifteen for community colleges and four-year institutions of higher education; and
     (3) An educational pipeline that results in fewer than one in five high school ninth graders graduating from college, a rate that places Washington in the bottom half of the country.
     To reverse this thirty-year trend and the consequences arising therefrom, this kids first act prioritizes education by requiring that two-thirds of the growth in state revenues in each fiscal biennium over the next decade be expended on education, including early learning, basic education, and higher education.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 43.135 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2025, to the extent that biennial revenues to the state general fund and related funds exceed state general fund and related fund revenues for the prior fiscal biennium, the revenue may be expended by the legislature only if at least two-thirds of the expenditures are for education programs and the other net state appropriations for education programs are not reduced below the appropriation level in the prior biennium.
     (2) As used in this section:
     (a) "Biennial revenues to the state general fund and related funds" includes the unrestricted ending fund balance from the prior fiscal biennium and includes the transfer or diversion of revenue or money to or from another fund or account but excludes transfers to the budget stabilization account under Article VII, section 12 of the state Constitution.
     (b) "Related funds" means the Washington opportunity pathways account and the education legacy trust account.
     (c) "Appropriations for education programs" are:
     (i) State allocations to school districts, charter schools, and educational service districts;
     (ii) Appropriations to the state's institutions of higher education and appropriations to state student financial aid programs; and
     (iii) Appropriations for the early learning program under RCW 43.215.455 and 43.215.456.
     (3) The calculations necessary to determine compliance with this section shall be performed by the economic and revenue forecast council.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The secretary of state shall submit this act to the people for their adoption and ratification, or rejection, at the next general election to be held in this state, in accordance with Article II, section 1 of the state Constitution and the laws adopted to facilitate its operation.