NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the salaries for faculty at the community and technical colleges have not kept pace with the market. The legislature further finds that there is a shortage of faculty to teach in nursing programs at community and technical colleges across the state and that a pay increase may aid in filling these positions with qualified faculty. Therefore it is the intent of the legislature that all faculty at the community and technical colleges be given an increase in pay in the next bargaining period and that nursing faculty receive an additional increase in pay.

(1) At the conclusion of any negotiation processes as provided for in RCW 28B.52.030, any matter upon which the parties have reached agreement shall be reduced to writing and acted upon in a regular or special meeting of the boards of trustees, and become part of the official proceedings of said board meeting. Except as provided in this section, provisions of written contracts relating to salary increases shall not exceed the amount or percentage established by the legislature in the appropriations act and allocated to the board of trustees by the state board for community and technical colleges.

(2) Subject to appropriations solely for the purpose of increasing high-demand program faculty salary, when negotiating contract provisions relating to salary increases, the parties must consider and, to the extent practicable, establish salaries that are no less than the average salary identified by the college and university professional association for human resources or a similar organization. Contract provisions relating to salary must include supplemental or premium pay for academic employees in high-demand program areas as determined locally to include but not be limited to nursing, other allied health-related professions, information technology, computer science, and trades including welding.

(3) The written agreement acted upon by a board of trustees must be submitted to the director of the office of financial management by October 1 prior to the fiscal year in which the provisions of the agreement go into effect. The length of term of any such agreement shall be for not more than three fiscal years. If any provision of a salary increase is changed by subsequent modification of the appropriations act by the legislature, both parties shall immediately enter into collective bargaining for the sole purpose of arriving at a mutually agreed upon replacement for the modified provision. A board of trustees may provide additional compensation to academic employees that exceeds that provided by the legislature.