Title: An act relating to academic employee salary increments for community and technical colleges.

Brief Description: Providing for academic employee salary increments for community and technical colleges.

Sponsors: Senators Kohl-Welles, Schmidt, Pridemore, Jacobsen, Kline and Shin.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Labor, Commerce, Research & Development: 1/16/06, 1/26/06[DPS-WM].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR, COMMERCE, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Majority Report: That Substitute Senate Bill No. 6397 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass and be referred to Committee on Ways & Means.Signed by Senators Kohl-Welles, Chair; Franklin, Vice Chair; Parlette, Ranking Minority Member; Brown, Hewitt, Honeyford, Keiser and Prentice.

Staff: Alison Mendiola (786-7483)

Background: Full and part-time faculty at community and technical colleges may be eligible for pay increases known as increments, based on their length of employment, completion of special requirements, like becoming certified, or a combination of time and requirements. Each year, community and technical colleges request funds from the Legislature to fund such increases which are generally funded, but which are not based on any set formula.

Summary of Substitute Bill: Each biennium, the Legislature will appropriate an amount of funds, which together with academic employee turnover savings, is sufficient to cover the state funded cost of increments for the community and technical college system. The funding amount will be capped at eight-tenths of one percent of the faculty salary base. The amount of appropriation generated from the proportionate share of the part-time faculty salary base is accessible only for part-time faculty. Additionally, all part-time faculty turnover savings are accessible only for part-time faculty.

The State Board of Community and Technical Colleges will determine a method to allocate the monies to the colleges.

Local boards of trustees will award faculty increments based on local collective bargaining agreements. Annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs) may be used to fund faculty increments, but if COLA funds are used, COLA funds are not available for a general salary increase.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill: Language is added to specify that of the increment appropriations, part-time faculty are to receive a proportionate share. The Legislature is to appropriate funds to cover the projected state-funded cost of increments.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested on January 11, 2006.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: (For Original Bill) Groups with competing interests have been working on the issue of increments for a very long time and this bill is the result of these various groups working together. Given that increments are subject to the collective bargaining agreements, this bill ensures that all faculty have access to increments. Statewide, it is hard to recruit and retain the most qualified faculty given the uncertainty as to whether increments are fully funded each biennium. The guaranteed funding of increments is necessary to pay for and foster professional development among community and technical college faculty.

Testimony Against: (For Original Bill) None.

Testimony Other: (For Original Bill) The bill does not specify that any of the increment funding appropriated by the Legislature be earmarked for part-time faculty which is a concern because in the past 90 percent of increment funding has gone to full-time faculty. Also, there should be uniformity between full-time and part-time faculty.

Who Testified: PRO: Sandra Schroeder, Association of Federated Teachers (AFT) of WA; J. Michael Emerson, State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)/Trustees Association/Highline Community College (HCC) Trustee; Larry Brown, Green River Community College/Trustees Association; Chris Reykdal, SBCTC; Linda Kanumski, Yakima Valley Community College; Ruth Niedhover, Highline Community College; Nat Hong, Olympic Community College; Phil Jack, Green River Community College; Beth Norman, Pierce Community College; Louis Watanabe, Bellevue Community College; Lawrence Morales, Seattle Central Community College; Marjie Vittum-Jones, South Seattle Community College; Lynne Dodson, Seattle Community Colleges; and Mike Steffancin, South Seattle Community College.

OTHER: Jack Longmate, WA Part-Time Faculty Association; Dana Rush, WA Part-Time Faculty Association; Doug Collins, WA Part-Time Faculty Association; Teresa Knudsen, WA Part-Time Faculty Association; and Keith Hueller.