Senate Republicans and House Democrats have proposed budget plans to satisfy the Washington Supreme Court’s mandate to fund basic education. Lowering maximum levy percentages permitted local school districts is part of both proposals.
School districts in Washington State have relied on local levies to fund basic education. With a decrease in the levy lid, which currently sits at 28 percent, districts would rely more on state funding and less, to some extent, on local dollars.
• Republicans propose a plan (SB 5607) that would freeze the levy rate at 28 percent until the beginning of the 2018 school year when the maximum levy percentage would drop to 24 percent. It eliminates voter-approved special levies in 2019, then beyond that year it limits voter approved levies to 10 percent of a district’s budget. The bill won Senate approval Feb. 1 on a partisan 25-24 vote. It now goes to the House for consideration, starting with the Appropriations Committee hearing Feb. 6.
• Beginning in 2019, the plan put forth by Democrats (HB 1843) would reduce the levy lid by one percent from the current levy lid, 28 percent. Each subsequent school year, the levy lid would decrease by one percent until 2021, when the levy lid would remain at 24 percent. The bill, introduced Jan. 31, awaits its first hearing in House Appropriations Committee on Monday, Feb. 6.
— Grace Swanson
Brief Summary of Substitute Senate Bill 5607
• Replaces the K-12 prototypical school funding allocation model for basic education with a per pupil guarantee model.
• Provides additional state supplemental per pupil funding for special education students, low-income students, transitional bilingual students, highly capable students, career and technical education students, and homeless students.
• Imposes a new local effort levy by the state on behalf of school districts at a uniform rate.
• Delays the 2018 reduction in local excess levy authority and state levy equalization distributions by a year.
• Eliminates voter-approved excess levies for calendar year 2019. Future voter-approved excess would be limited to 10 percent.
• Repeals Initiative 1351 and Initiative 732 provisions.
• Includes a variety of provisions dealing with compensation, educator strikes, chronically absent students, teacher removal, financial accounting and controls, school performance targets, school district flexibility, and additional assistance for lower performing schools.
• Includes a referendum clause submitting most of the provisions to a vote at the November 2017 general election.
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.
Substitute Senate Bill 5607 complete text as approved Feb. 1 by Senate
