BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to higher education; adding new sections to chapter 28B.10 RCW; creating a new section; repealing RCW 28B.15.515; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that there is increasing need for postsecondary educational opportunities for citizens of the state of Washington. The legislature also finds that in the past twelve years postsecondary educational opportunities have been severely restricted by state budget policy. The proportion of the state budget dedicated to postsecondary educational programs has continued to decrease and, subsequently, the opportunity for this state's citizens to participate in such programs has also declined. At the same time, major technological, economic, and demographic changes have exacerbated the need for improved training and education to maintain a high-quality, competitive work force, and a well-educated populace to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The legislature finds that this state has not fulfilled its responsibility to provide sufficient opportunity, commensurate with the dramatic growth in this state's population, for its citizens to engage in the postsecondary educational programs that are necessary for their personal and professional improvement and this state's economic vitality.

Therefore, the legislature declares that the policy of the state of Washington shall be to improve the access to, and quality of, this state's postsecondary educational system. The budgetary policy of the state of Washington shall be to provide a level of protection and commitment to the state's postsecondary educational system commensurate with the responsibility of this state to the educational and professional improvement of its citizens and work force.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It is the policy of the state of Washington that funding for the state institutions of higher education, provided in the omnibus appropriations act, shall ensure adequate resources to maintain a state-funded full-time equivalent participation rate at a minimum of the participation rate funded in the last fiscal year of the previous biennium beginning with the 1993 fiscal year. The participation rate shall be based on the state's estimated population between the ages of seventeen and forty-four.

The funding level per full-time equivalent enrollment established for this minimum number of full-time equivalent students shall, each biennium, be equal to the rate assumed in the omnibus appropriations act for the last fiscal year of the previous biennium plus an inflation factor for, at a minimum, the instruction, instructional support, and library support budget categories that is equivalent to the inflation factor used to calculate basic education in the common school system budget request submitted by the governor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. In addition to the minimum participation rate established in section 2 of this act, it is the policy of the state of Washington to achieve the goal of reaching the ninetieth percentile in national participation rates by the year 2010. This shall be accomplished by increasing enrollments, in addition to any increases required by section 2 of this act, in regular increments each biennium in order to remain on target to achieve this goal by the end of the 2009-11 biennium. Pursuant to section 4 of this act, the higher education coordinating board shall regularly calculate the additional enrollments necessary each biennium to achieve the purposes of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Formal estimates of the state participation rates necessary to fulfill the requirements of sections 2 and 3 of this act will be determined by the higher education coordinating board, in conjunction with the office of financial management, based upon state population statistics provided by the office of financial management. Estimates of additional or increased full-time equivalent enrollments required by sections 2 and 3 of this act for each succeeding budget period shall be reported by the higher education coordinating board to the office of financial management and the legislature by April 1st of each even-numbered year. As a part of this report, the higher education coordinating board shall provide separate estimates of the additional enrollments necessary each biennium to remain on target to achieve the enrollment goal established in section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. It is the policy of the state of Washington that the state institutions of higher education have full authority to use innovative approaches to increase the enrollment level of their institutions. The provisions of sections 2 and 3 of this act are used to calculate a minimum state-funded enrollment level, however each institution has the authority and flexibility to increase the actual level of enrollment from this minimum that it will maintain during any fiscal year. The level of state-funded enrollment that is adopted under sections 2 and 3 of this act is not an enrollment limit or restriction upon an institution of higher education. The state institutions of higher education are encouraged to deploy or redeploy their existing resources to increase access to their institutions if it does not result in a reduction in direct instructional services to students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. It is the policy of the state of Washington that financial need not be a barrier to participation in the state higher education system. Funding for student financial aid in each omnibus appropriations act shall, at a minimum, be equal to the amount provided in the previous biennium adjusted for increases in the state-funded full-time equivalent enrollment level pursuant to sections 2 and 3 of this act and increases in the cost of attendance as calculated by the higher education coordinating board. The higher education coordinating board shall provide these calculations to the office of financial management and the legislature by April 1st of each even-numbered year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. RCW 28B.15.515 and 1991 c 353 s 1 are each repealed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 2 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 28B.10 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1993.