H-3562.1
HOUSE BILL 2504
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State of Washington | 65th Legislature | 2018 Regular Session |
By Representatives Hansen, Wylie, Slatter, Kloba, and Goodman
Read first time 01/10/18. Referred to Committee on Appropriations.
AN ACT Relating to making the funding of the opportunity scholarship program a maintenance level item for budgeting purposes; amending RCW
28B.145.040; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the opportunity scholarship program is essential in the state's investment in students entering high employer demand programs of study, especially in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The legislature intends to ensure the predictable treatment of the opportunity scholarship program in the budget process by clarifying the calculation process of the state match required by RCW 28B.145.040. Nothing in this act is intended to require the caseload forecast council to calculate the state match or change in any way the responsibilities of the caseload forecast council. Sec. 2. RCW 28B.145.040 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 13 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The opportunity scholarship program is established.
(2) The purpose of this scholarship program is to provide scholarships that will help low and middle-income Washington residents earn baccalaureate degrees in high employer demand and other programs of study and encourage them to remain in the state to work. The program must be designed for both students starting at two-year institutions of higher education and intending to transfer to four-year institutions of higher education and students starting at four-year institutions of higher education.
(3) The opportunity scholarship board shall determine which programs of study, including but not limited to high employer demand programs, are eligible for purposes of the opportunity scholarship.
(4) The source of funds for the program shall be a combination of private grants and contributions and state matching funds. A state match may be earned under this section for private contributions made on or after June 6, 2011.
The state match must be based on donations and pledges received as of the date each official state caseload forecast is submitted by the caseload forecast council to the legislative fiscal committees, as provided under RCW 43.88C.020. A state match, up to a maximum of fifty million dollars annually, shall be provided beginning the later of January 1, 2014, or January 1st next following the end of the fiscal year in which collections of state retail sales and use tax, state business and occupation tax, and state public utility tax exceed, by ten percent the amounts collected from these tax resources in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008, as determined by the department of revenue.
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