HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1435

BYRepresentatives Jacobsen, Miller, Walk, Heavey, G. Fisher, Prince, Doty, Basich, Brumsickle, Fraser, Anderson, Kremen, Rayburn, Patrick, Winsley, Schoon, Valle, Hankins, D. Sommers, Ferguson, Wineberry, Rector, Wang, P. King, Leonard,  Inslee, Prentice, Sayan, Spanel, Brekke, Todd and Smith

Providing for adult literacy.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (13)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Doty, Fraser, Heavey, Inslee, Jesernig, Miller, H. Myers, Prince and Wood.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786- 7120)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION FEBRUARY 23, 1989

BACKGROUND:

"Functional literacy" is defined as the ability to apply reading, writing, and computational skills to the tasks of everyday life.  Examples include:  reading the label on a medicine bottle, extracting information from a bus schedule, filling out a job application, giving informed consent for medical treatment, and comprehending instructions in a shop manual.  By functional standards, it appears that 20 to 25 percent of American adults are "functionally illiterate."

According to a 1985 report compiled by the State Board for Community College Education, functional illiteracy is expensive to the illiterate individual and to society.  On average, an illiterate adult earns 42 percent less than a literate high school graduate.  Annually, more than $5 billion of national tax money is spent on welfare support to people who are unemployable due to illiteracy.  Finally, more than $6 billion is spent annually to maintain more than 260,000 prison inmates whose imprisonment has been directly linked to functional illiteracy.

A series of programs funded by federal, state, and local governments and non-profit agencies exists to combat the effects of illiteracy.  Included are the Adult Basic Education Program which is targeted toward adults reading below the eighth grade level, and the English as a Second Language Program.  Community colleges offer basic skills and developmental courses. Project Even Start combines instruction with parenting skills.  The Washington State Library provides federal funds for literacy efforts undertaken by local libraries.

The state funded Volunteer Literacy Tutor Coordination Program pays for part-time tutor coordinators for 27 local projects.  Washington Literacy is a 20-year old non-profit organization that serves as a resource center for community literacy programs.  Goodwill Literacy offers tutoring for adults.  An example of an active local group is the Pierce County Literacy Coalition.

SUMMARY:

The Adult Literacy Act of 1989 is introduced.  A state adult literacy advisory committee is established. The committee's purpose is to develop a literacy plan and to submit a report to the legislature by July 1, 1990.

The contents of the plan are outlined.  They include: the identification of adults needing literacy services; the promotion of literacy programs and contributions to those programs; the identification of measurement standards and necessary funding levels; the identification of the extent to which a literacy problem exists in the state; and a process for implementing the plan.  The committee will also submit a biennial report to the legislature.

The committee will be composed of 20 members representing various agencies and constituencies. Representatives of state agencies will be selected by the agency director.  One legislative member will be selected by each caucus.  Remaining members will be selected by the governor. The committee will serve until the legislature selects a successor organization responsible for plan implementation.

Terms are defined.  The State Library is directed to provide facility, material, and staff support to the committee.  Staff support will be at least one quarter-time staff, plus additional clerical support as requested by the committee.

Seventy five thousand dollars is appropriated to the State Library for the 1989-91 biennium, to carry out the purposes of this act.

Appropriation:    $75,000 to the State Library.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Gil Carbone, State Board for Community College Education and the Washington Coalition for Adult Literacy; Wayne Ehlers, Department of Social and Health Services; Suzanne Griffin, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Nancy Elliott, South Puget Sound Community College.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    There are a number of programs and resources dedicated to helping adults become literate, however, these efforts are somewhat fragmented.  Literacy efforts need to be coordinated in order to enhance their effectiveness.  This legislation will help provide that coordination, and will result in the creation of a plan designed to ensure the maximum effectiveness of programs for combating illiteracy.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.