H-1548.2  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1047

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By House Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Carlson, Radcliff, Dunn and O'Brien)

Read first time 02/10/97.

Changing tuition waivers for members of the Washington national guard and employees of institutions of higher education.

    AN ACT Relating to tuition waivers; amending RCW 28B.15.558; and repealing RCW 28B.15.535.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 28B.15.558 and 1996 c 305 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The governing boards of the state universities, the regional universities, The Evergreen State College, and the community colleges may waive all or a portion of the tuition and services and activities fees for state employees as defined under subsection (2) of this section and members of the Washington national guard.  The enrollment of these persons is pursuant to the following conditions:

    (a) Such ((state employees)) persons shall register for and be enrolled in courses on a space available basis and no new course sections shall be created as a result of the registration;

    (b) Enrollment information on ((state employees)) persons registered pursuant to this section shall be maintained separately from other enrollment information and shall not be included in official enrollment reports, nor shall such ((state employees)) persons be considered in any enrollment statistics ((which)) that would affect budgetary determinations; and

    (c) ((State employees)) Persons registering on a space available basis shall be charged a registration fee of not less than five dollars.

    (2) For the purposes of this section, "state employees" means persons employed half‑time or more in one or more of the following employee classifications:

(a) Permanent employees ((employed half-time or more)) in classified service under chapter 41.06 RCW;

(b) Permanent employees ((employed half-time or more who are)) governed by chapter 41.56 RCW pursuant to the exercise of the option under RCW 41.56.201;

(c) Permanent classified employees and exempt paraprofessional employees of technical colleges ((employed half-time or more)); and ((nonacademic))

(d) Faculty, counselors, librarians, and exempt professional and administrative employees ((and members of the faculties and instructional staff employed half-time or more)) at institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016.

(3) In awarding waivers, an institution of higher education may award waivers to eligible persons employed by the institution before considering waivers for eligible persons who are not employed by the institution.

(4) If an institution of higher education exercises the authority granted under this section, it shall include all eligible state employees and members of the Washington national guard in the pool of persons eligible to participate in the program.

(5) In establishing eligibility to receive waivers, institutions of higher education may not discriminate between full‑time employees and employees who are employed half‑time or more.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  RCW 28B.15.535 and 1996 c 6 s 1, 1992 c 231 s 15, 1985 c 390 s 28, 1983 c 220 s 1, & 1979 c 82 s 2 are each repealed.

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