Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 10

2017 legislative review Legislature Reaches Funding Milestone for K-12 Education For the first time in decades, lawmakers put more than half of the state’s two-year operating budget toward K-12 education. Bobbi Cussins Now that the program of basic education makes up more than 50 percent of the record-high $43.7 billion state operating budget, the Supreme Court issued a ruling saying it is satisfied that the funding is sufficient, but the timeline for implementing the Legislature’s plan is not. At A Glance In the 2012 McCleary v. State of Washington education funding case the state Supreme Court ordered the state to comply with the state constitution and fully and equitably fund the program of K-12 basic education as defined in House bills 2261 (2009) and 2776 (2010). Since 2013, the Legislature has allocated an historic $4.5 billion more toward K-12 education, funding pupil transportation, full-day kindergarten, K-3 class-size reductions and materials, supplies and operating costs, or MSOCs. The final piece — levy reform — was enacted in the 2017-19 budget with a restructuring of the state property tax and local levies. For more information on McCleary, educational outcomes and program specifics, contact AWB Government Affairs Director Amy Anderson at AmyA@ awb.org. For information on the budget and tax implications of McCleary, contact AWB Vice President Government Affairs, Gary Chandler at [email protected]. Both can be reached at 360.943.1600. 8 association of washington business Legislative leaders and Gov. Jay Inslee gather in the final minutes of the fiscal year after approving and signing the bipartisan budget agreement. The governor and lead budget writers in the House and Senate took a victory lap June 30 as they proclaimed that the two-year, $43.7 billion state budget, finally fulfills the obligations under the state Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary education funding ruling. More than half of the state’s budget — 50.3 percent — now goes toward K-12 education. “This is a historic budget because we are going to be fully funding the education of our children for the first time in the state of Washington in over 30 years,” Gov. Jay Inslee said during the bill signing. “This budget will at long last fulfill our constitutional obligations to fully and fairly fund basic education and it also addresses the responsibilities we have under the McCleary decision to equitably fund our schools. “With that, I’m going to find a good bill to sign, and I have one right here,” Inslee said. But, that’s not the end of the education funding saga that began in the 1970s and was supercharged in 2012.