Washington State House of Representatives Office of Program Research	BILL ANALYSIS
Education Committee

HB 1688

Brief Description:  Providing a housing supplement to the salaries of certain teachers and instructional staff.

Sponsors:  Representatives Pflug, Quall, Talcott, McDermott, Anderson, Jarrett, Cairnes, Keiser, Ericksen, Edwards, Conway and Santos.

Brief Summary of Bill

$Authorizes the development of recommendations for methods the state may use to provide a housing supplement to certificated instructional staff.

Hearing Date:  2/12/01

Staff:  Sydney Forrester (786‑7120).

Background: 

In December 2000, the Office of Financial Management reported that: (1) housing costs account for most of the differences in the cost of living among regions in Washington; (2) about two-thirds of teacher households in Washington are homeowner households; (3) estimated differences in annual homeowner costs by school district range from approximately $8,000 in Klickitat County to more than $42,000 in King County; and (4) the median annual homeowner cost for the 1998-99 school year was $16,000.

There are state and private programs in Washington providing home-buying assistance for qualified buyers.  However, these programs are not specifically designed to assist school employees.

Summary of Bill: 

The Washington State Institute of Public Policy, in consultation with the OSPI, must develop recommendations for a method the state can use to supplement the salaries of certificated instructional staff for the purpose of reducing disparities in the purchasing power of salary compensation across the state. 

The institute must consider:

(1) the most valid and reliable indicators of housing costs;

(2) the most appropriate means of relating the data to employment in the individual districts across the state;

(3) alternatives for distributing housing supplements;

(4) a means of allocating funds to individual districts for the purpose of providing housing supplements; and

(5) related issues as necessary for the development of an efficient and equitable system of providing housing supplements.

The institute must report its recommendations to the governor and the legislature by July 1, 2002.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not Requested.

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