BILL REQ. #:  S-4408.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/11/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to creating efficiencies for institutions of higher education; and amending RCW 28B.15.102, 42.16.010, and 44.28.816.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 28B.15.102 and 2013 c 23 s 53 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning with the 2011-12 academic year, any four-year institution of higher education that increases tuition beyond levels assumed in the omnibus appropriations act is subject to the financial aid requirements included in this section and shall remain subject to these requirements through the 2018-19 academic year.
     (2) Beginning July 1, 2011, each four-year institution of higher education that raises tuition beyond levels assumed in the omnibus appropriations act shall, in a manner consistent with the goal of enhancing the quality of and access to their institutions, provide financial aid to offset full-time tuition fees for resident undergraduate students as follows:
     (a) Subtract from the full-time tuition fees an amount that is equal to the maximum amount of a state need grant award that would be given to an eligible student with a family income at or below fifty percent of the state's median family income as determined by the student achievement council; and
     (b) Offset the remainder as follows:
     (i) Students with demonstrated need whose family incomes are at or below fifty percent of the state's median family income shall receive financial aid equal to one hundred percent of the remainder if an institution's full-time tuition fees for resident undergraduate students is five percent or greater of the state's median family income for a family of four as provided by the student achievement council;
     (ii) Students with demonstrated need whose family incomes are greater than fifty percent and no more than seventy percent of the state's median family income shall receive financial aid equal to seventy-five percent of the remainder if an institution's full-time tuition fees for resident undergraduate students is ten percent or greater of the state's median family income for a family of four as provided by the student achievement council;
     (iii) Students with demonstrated need whose family incomes exceed seventy percent and are less than one hundred percent of the state's median family income shall receive financial aid equal to fifty percent of the remainder if an institution's full-time tuition fees for resident undergraduate students is fifteen percent or greater of the state's median family income for a family of four as provided by the student achievement council; and
     (iv) Students with demonstrated need whose family incomes are at or exceed one hundred percent and are no more than one hundred twenty-five percent of the state's median family income shall receive financial aid equal to twenty-five percent of the remainder if an institution's full-time tuition fees for resident undergraduate students is twenty percent or greater of the state's median family income for a family of four as provided by the student achievement council.
     (3) The financial aid required in subsection (2) of this section shall:
     (a) Be reduced by the amount of other financial aid awards, not including the state need grant;
     (b) Be prorated based on credit load; and
     (c) Only be provided to students up to demonstrated need.
     (4) Financial aid sources and methods may be:
     (a) Tuition revenue or locally held funds;
     (b) Tuition waivers created by a four-year institution of higher education for the specific purpose of serving low and middle-income students; or
     (c) Local financial aid programs.
     (5) Use of tuition waivers as specified in subsection (4)(b) of this section shall not be included in determining total state tuition waiver authority as defined in RCW 28B.15.910.
     (6) By ((August 15, 2012, and August 15th)) December 31st every year ((thereafter)), four-year institutions of higher education that increase tuition beyond levels assumed in the omnibus appropriations act after January 1, 2011, shall report to the governor and relevant committees of the legislature on the effectiveness of the various sources and methods of financial aid in mitigating tuition increases. A key purpose of these reports is to provide information regarding the results of the decision to grant tuition-setting authority to the four-year institutions of higher education and whether tuition setting authority should continue to be granted to the institutions or revert back to the legislature after consideration of the impacts on students, including educational access, affordability, and ((quality)) completion. These reports shall include:
     (a) The amount of ((additional)) financial aid provided to middle-income and low-income resident students with demonstrated need in the aggregate and per student;
     (b) An itemization of the sources and methods of financial aid provided by the four-year institution of higher education in the aggregate and per student for resident undergraduate students;
     (c) An analysis of the combined impact of federal tuition tax credits and financial aid provided by the institution of higher education on the net cost to students and their families resulting from tuition increases;
     (d) In cases where tuition increases are greater than those assumed in the omnibus appropriations act at any four-year institution of higher education, the institution must include an explanation in its report of why this increase was necessary and how the institution will mitigate the effects of the increase. The institution must include in this section of its report a plan and specific timelines; and
     (e) An analysis of changes in resident student enrollment patterns, participation rates, graduation rates, and debt load, by race and ethnicity, gender, state and county of origin, age, and socioeconomic status, and a plan to mitigate effects of reduced diversity due to tuition increases. This analysis shall include disaggregated data for resident students in the following income brackets:
     (i) Up to seventy percent of the median family income;
     (ii) Between seventy-one percent and one hundred twenty-five percent of the median family income; and
     (iii) Above one hundred twenty-five percent of the median family income.
     (7) Beginning in the 2012-13 academic year, the University of Washington shall enroll during each academic year at least the same number of resident first-year undergraduate students at the Seattle campus, as defined in RCW 28B.15.012, as enrolled during the 2009-10 academic year. This requirement shall not apply to nonresident undergraduate and graduate and professional students.

Sec. 2   RCW 42.16.010 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 43 s 446 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided otherwise in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, all state officers and employees shall be paid for services rendered from the first day of the month through the fifteenth day of the month and for services rendered from the sixteenth day of the month through the last calendar day of the month. Paydates for these two pay periods shall be established by the director of financial management through the administrative hearing process and the official paydates shall be established six months prior to the beginning of each subsequent calendar year. Under no circumstance shall the paydate be established more than ten days after the pay period in which the wages are earned except when the designated paydate falls on Sunday, in which case the paydate shall not be later than the following Monday. Payment shall be deemed to have been made by the established paydates if: (a) The salary warrant is available at the geographic work location at which the warrant is normally available to the employee; or (b) the salary has been electronically transferred into the employee's account at the employee's designated financial institution; or (c) the salary warrants are mailed at least two days before the established paydate for those employees engaged in work in remote or varying locations from the geographic location at which the payroll is prepared, provided that the employee has requested payment by mail.
     The office of financial management shall develop the necessary policies and operating procedures to assure that all remuneration for services rendered including basic salary, shift differential, standby pay, overtime, penalty pay, salary due based on contractual agreements, and special pay provisions, as provided for by law, agency policy or rule, or contract, shall be available to the employee on the designated paydate. Overtime, penalty pay, and special pay provisions may be paid by the next following paydate if the postponement of payment is attributable to: The employee's not making a timely or accurate report of the facts which are the basis for the payment, or the employer's lack of reasonable opportunity to verify the claim.
     Compensable benefits payable because of separation from state service shall be paid with the earnings for the final period worked unless the employee separating has not provided the agency with the proper notification of intent to terminate.
     One-half of the employee's basic monthly salary shall be paid in each pay period. Employees paid on an hourly basis or employees who work less than a full pay period shall be paid for actual salary earned.
     (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in instances where it would conflict with contractual rights or, with the approval of the office of financial management, to short-term, intermittent, noncareer state employees, to student employees of institutions of higher education, to national or state guard members participating in state active duty, and to liquor control agency managers who are paid a percentage of monthly liquor sales.
     (3) When a national or state guard member is called to participate in state active duty, the paydate shall be no more than seven days following completion of duty or the end of the pay period, whichever is first. When the seventh day falls on Sunday, the paydate shall not be later than the following Monday. This subsection shall apply only to the pay a national or state guard member receives from the military department for state active duty.
     (4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section, a bargained contract at an institution of higher education may include a provision for paying part-time academic employees on a pay schedule that coincides with all the paydays used for full-time academic employees.
     (5)(a) Notwithstanding subsections (1), (2), and (4) of this section, an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 may pay its employees for services rendered biweekly, in pay periods consisting of two consecutive seven calendar-day weeks. The paydate for each pay period shall be seven calendar days after the end of the pay period. Under no circumstance may the paydate be established more than seven days after the pay period in which the wages are earned except that when the designated paydate falls on a holiday, the paydate shall not be later than the following Monday.
     (b) Employees on a biweekly payroll cycle under this subsection (5) who are paid a salary may receive a prorated amount of their annualized salary each pay period. The prorated amount may be proportional to the number of pay periods worked in the calendar year. Employees on a biweekly payroll cycle under this subsection (5) who are paid hourly, or who work less than a full pay period may be paid the actual salary amount earned during the pay period.
     (c) Each institution that adopts a biweekly pay schedule under this subsection (5) must establish, publish, and notify the director of the office of financial management of the official paydates six months before the beginning of each subsequent calendar year.
     (6) Notwithstanding subsections (1), (2), and (4) of this section, academic employees at institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 whose employment appointments are less than twelve months may have their salaries prorated in such a way that coincides with the paydays used for full-time employees.

Sec. 3   RCW 44.28.816 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 10 s 31 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) During calendar year 2018, the joint committee shall complete a systemic performance audit of the tuition-setting authority in RCW 28B.15.067 granted to the governing boards of the state universities, regional universities, and The Evergreen State College. The audit must include a separate analysis of both the authority granted in RCW 28B.15.067(3) and the authority in RCW 28B.15.067(4). The purpose of the audit is to evaluate the impact of institutional tuition-setting authority on student access, affordability, and ((institutional quality)) completion.
     (2) The audit must include an evaluation of the following outcomes for each four-year institution of higher education:
     (a) Changes in undergraduate enrollment, retention, and graduation by race and ethnicity, gender, state and county of origin, age, and socioeconomic status;
     (b) The impact on student transferability, particularly from Washington community and technical colleges;
     (c) Changes in time and credits to degree;
     (d) Changes in the number and availability of online programs and undergraduate enrollments in the programs;
     (e) Changes in enrollments in the running start and other dual enrollment programs;
     (f) Impacts on funding levels for state student financial aid programs;
     (g) Any changes in the percent of students who apply for student financial aid using the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA);
     (h) Any changes in the percent of students who apply for available tax credits;
     (i) Information on the use of building fee revenue by fiscal or academic year; and
     (j) Undergraduate tuition and fee rates compared to undergraduate tuition and fee rates at similar institutions in the global challenge states.
     (3) The audit must include recommendations on whether to continue tuition-setting authority beyond the 2018-19 academic year.
     (4) In conducting the audit, the auditor shall solicit input from key higher education stakeholders, including but not limited to students and their families, faculty, and staff. To the maximum extent possible, data for the University of Washington and Washington State University shall be disaggregated by branch campus.
     (5) The auditor shall report findings and recommendations to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 15, 2018.
     (6) This section expires December 31, 2018.