H-2034.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1400
State of Washington
64th Legislature
2015 Regular Session
By House Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Haler, Pollet, Zeiger, Van Werven, Bergquist, Stambaugh, Buys, Hargrove, Muri, Condotta, and Tharinger)
READ FIRST TIME 02/20/15.
AN ACT Relating to increasing transparency in higher education by requiring certain budgeting information to be available online; adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that transparency in higher education is essential to the maintenance of public trust in the higher education system. Such transparency is not only an appropriate check on future higher education cost increases, it should also counteract any perception that public institutions are not adequately accountable for student and taxpayer dollars. Therefore, to ensure general accessibility to meaningful expenditure records, and to improve public confidence in the system, the legislature intends to require that each institution of higher education post to the education data center's data dashboard its college, school, or department-level actual expenditure records.
The legislature finds that placing the responsibility for posting these records on the education data center takes advantage of the independence, expertise, and technology base within the education data center. The legislature intends that the education data center use information submitted by the institutions so as to minimize the costs to the education data center.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:
Beginning October 1, 2015, the education data center, established in RCW 43.41.400, shall post on the education data center's data dashboard, established under RCW 28B.77.090, the actual expenditure records of each institution of higher education. "Actual expenditure records" means the college, school, or department-level records of actual expenditures made from general operating funds and designated operating funds. Each institution of higher education must submit to the education data center its actual expenditure records within ninety days of the adoption of its annual fiscal year budget.
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