S-3979               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6463

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Saling, Rinehart, Smitherman, Bauer, Stratton, Talmadge and Johnson

Read first time 1/15/90 and referred to Committee on  Higher Education.

AN ACT Relating to services and activities fee programs; and amending RCW 28B.15.045.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 80, Laws of 1980 as amended by section 2, chapter 91, Laws of 1986 and RCW 28B.15.045 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature recognizes that institutional governing boards have a responsibility to manage and protect institutions of higher education.  This responsibility includes ensuring certain lawful agreements for which revenues from services and activities fees have been pledged.  Such lawful agreements include, but are not limited to, bond covenant agreements and other contractual obligations.  Institutional governing boards are also expected to protect the stability of programs that benefit all students.

The legislature also recognizes that services and activities fees are fees paid by students for the express purpose of funding nonacademic student services and programs.  It is the intent of the legislature that governing boards ensure that students have a strong voice in recommending budgets for services and activities fees. The boards of trustees and the boards of regents of the respective institutions of higher education shall adopt guidelines governing the establishment and funding of programs supported by services and activities fees.  Such guidelines shall spell out procedures for budgeting and expending services and activities fee revenue.  Any such  guidelines shall be consistent with the following provisions:

          (1) Students shall have an opportunity to address the board before decisions on services and activities budgets are made;

(2) Members of the services and activities committee shall have an opportunity to negotiate with the board as set forth in subsection (7)(b) of this section before the board funds, or increases the budget for, an item that was not present in the budget that the services and activities committee recommended to the administration and the board;

(3) Members of the governing boards adhere closely to the principle that student desires on funding items that do not fall into the categories of preexisting contractual obligations, bond covenant agreements, stability for programs affecting all students, be given the utmost consideration.

(4) Responsibility for proposing to the governing board program priorities and budget levels for that portion of program budgets that derive from services and activities fees shall reside with a services and activities fee committee, on which students shall hold at least a majority of the voting memberships, such student members to represent a broad spectrum of student interests and student organizations, including nontraditional students, minority and women students, and to be ((recommended)) selected by the student government association or its equivalent.  The chairperson of the services and activities fee committee shall be selected by the members of that committee.  The governing board shall insure that the services and activities fee committee provides an opportunity for all viewpoints to be heard at a public meeting during its consideration of the funding of student programs and activities.

          (((2))) (5) The services and activities fee committee shall evaluate existing and proposed programs and submit budget recommendations for the expenditure of those services and activities fees with supporting documents to the college or university ((administration, and shall submit informational copies of such to the)) governing board and administration.

          (((3))) (6) The college or university administration shall ((review and publish a written response)) make proposed program priorities and budget level recommendations to the services and activities fee committee ((recommendations)).  This ((response)) recommendation shall outline potential areas of difference between the committee recommendations and the administration's proposed budget recommendations.  This ((response)) recommendation, with supporting documentation, shall be submitted to the services and activities fee committee ((and)) for consideration thirty days before the services and activities fee committee recommendations are due to the governing board.

          (((4))) (7)(a) In the event of a dispute or disputes involving the services and activities fee committee recommendations, the college or university administration shall meet with the services and activities fee committee in a good faith effort to resolve such dispute or disputes prior to submittal of final recommendations to the governing board.

          (((5) Before adoption of the final budget the governing board shall address areas of difference between any committee recommendations and the administration's budget recommendations presented for adoption by the board.  A student representative of the services and activities fee committee shall be given the opportunity to reasonably address the governing board concerning any such differences.

          (6))) (b) If the services and activities fee committee and the college or university administration are unable to resolve their dispute or disputes, a dispute resolution subcommittee shall be formed before submission and before adoption of the final budget.

(8) The committee shall be selected as follows:  The college or university administration shall appoint one voting member and one nonvoting advisory member; the governing board shall appoint two voting members and one nonvoting member; and the student and activities fees committee three voting members.  The committee shall meet in good faith, and settle by vote, any and all disputes.  In the event of a tie vote the one nonvoting governing board member shall vote to settle the dispute.

(9) Services and activities fees and revenues generated by programs and activities funded by such fees shall be deposited and expended through the office of the chief fiscal officer of the institution.

          (((7))) (10) Services and activities fees and revenues generated by programs and activities funded by such fees shall be subject to the applicable policies, regulations, and procedures of the institution and the budget and accounting act, chapter 43.88 RCW.

          (((8))) (11) All information pertaining to services and activities fees budgets shall be made available to interested parties.

          (((9))) (12) With the exception of any funds needed for bond covenant obligations, once the budget for expending service and activities fees is approved by the governing board, funds shall not be shifted from funds budgeted for associated students or departmentally related categories or the reserve fund until the administration provides written justification to the services and activities fee committee and the governing board, or the governing board gives its express approval((, or the recognized student governing organization gives its express approval)).  Such fund transfers cannot result in an increase from the original budget allocation of the governing board for any particular item without the written agreement of the governing board and the services and activities fee committee.

          (((10))) (13) Any service and activities fees collected which exceed initially budgeted amounts are subject to subsections (1)((, (2), (3), and (9))) through (10) and (13) of this section.