April 18, 2016
Updated OPB Brief: Governor Action on 2016 Compromise Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets
On April 18, Governor Inslee signed the final compromise operating budget after vetoing several sections. One of the Governor’s vetoes reversed a plan to convert activities conducted by the Office of Financial Management (OFM) into a “central service.” As a result of the veto, the UW will no longer be billed approximately $2.03 million from…
April 8, 2016
Updated OPB Brief on Published Price vs. Net Price
The rising costs of college are a popular subject for everyone from presidential candidates to media outlets. Parents and students blanche as published tuition prices climb ever higher. But the published price – often referred to as the “sticker price” for colleges – offers a misleading picture of the cost of higher education. OPB has updated…
March 30, 2016
OPB Brief: Final 2016 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets
The 2016 Legislature concluded its business having passed supplemental operating and capital budgets before the scheduled close of the 30-day special session. Please see the OPB brief for a detailed overview of the final compromise budgets. While the compromise operating budget includes $3.513 million in additional biennial funding to “true up” the tuition backfill associated…
March 22, 2016
New OPB Brief on Income Share Agreements (ISAs)
Over the past few months, income share agreements (ISAs) have received significant attention from political candidates, higher education advocates, and news sources. A new OPB brief takes a closer look at ISAs by: Exploring differences between and the history of privately funded ISAs and publicly funded ISAs (such as Pay It Forward). Comparing ISAs to federal…
March 14, 2016
Special Session and Senate Second Supplemental Budget Offer
The House and Senate did not come to an agreement on a 2016 supplemental budget by the end of the 60-day regular session, which was slated to end March 10. Several news outlets reported the tense ending, which featured Governor Inslee vetoing 27 bills (see an example here). The Governor convened a 30-day special session,…
February 25, 2016
2016 Supplemental Budget Proposals
This week, leadership in the House and Senate released their respective supplemental operating and capital budget proposals for the current biennium (FY16 & FY17), which follow the December release of Governor Jay Inslee’s proposals. As a reminder, the House and Senate proposals will be amended before they pass their respective chambers. Please see the OPB…
February 22, 2016
2016 Supplemental Budget – House Appropriations Committee Proposal
Earlier today, the leadership in the House Appropriations Committee released their 2016 supplemental operating budget proposal. Toward the end of this week, the leadership in the Senate Ways & Means Committee will release their budget. Following that release, we will post a brief here outlining the differences between Governor Inslee’s proposed budget and the House…
February 17, 2016
February Revenue Forecast Reduces Projections for 2015-17 and 2017-19 Biennia
On Wednesday, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) released its February revenue forecast, which reduced projected General Fund-State (GF-S) collections compared to the November revenue forecast (see our blog post here). The GF-S revenue forecast decreased by $67 million for the current 2015-17 biennium and by $442 million for the 2017-19 biennium. While the revision to the 2017-19…
January 26, 2016
Obama administration announces plan to expand Pell Grant program
The Obama administration has introduced a plan to bring back year-round Pell Grants and to create a $300 bonus for Pell recipients taking at least 15 credits a semester. Both elements of the plan are designed to incentivize students to graduate faster and accrue less debt in school. The plan would cost $2 billion over…
January 25, 2016
New York expands student loan forgiveness program to include lower earners
New York state has recently instituted the “Get on Your Feet” loan forgiveness program in an effort to keep young college graduates living and working in the state. The program, originally introduced as a part of Governor Cuomo’s 2015 Opportunity Agenda, is designed to help struggling recent graduates in the state pay back their student…