The state Higher Education Coordinating Board's (HECB) Child Care Matching Grant program, which provides financial aid for students with children across the state and was suspended in an earlier legislative session, has been restored to previous funding levels with the Legislature's passage of the state budget Wednesday night.
The reconciliation budget bill included $75,000 a year in funding over two years for the program, which is awarded to four-year and community and technical colleges as grants to match existing campus childcare investments.
The reinstatement is an unlikely and significant development in a legislative session in which lawmakers were facing a $5.3 billion budget shortfall and cut funding to higher education by $535 million. The University of Washington's operating budget was cut 33 percent, or $209 million.
"It is an amazing advocacy accomplishment for a suspended program to have its funding reinstated, given this budget climate," said Ben Henry, Graduate & Professional Student Senate (GPSS) Vice President and Washington Student Association (WSA) legislative liaison. "As a result, hundreds of students with children across the state, including at UW, will see fewer barriers to completing their degrees."
WSA Executive Director Mike Bogatay says it's a "done deal," as Gov. Chris Gregoire will not be able to veto this particular budget line item. "The Governor can only line-item veto what is written in the budget," he said. "Since it was included in carry-forward funding and not written in as budget proviso, she doesn't have the authority to (veto) it."
GPSS and WSA spent much of this legislative session advocating for restoration of this program, proposing what became Senate Bill 5795, which would have created a funding mechanism for the program via unclaimed lottery prizes. The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, would have funded the program at $250,000 a year.
While this program's reinstatement presents a win, it was a very rough session for graduate and professional student interests. Besides institutional funding cuts, funding for what had been the last remaining state financial aid program that benefits graduate students, State Work Study, was cut by $31 million, or 66 percent, to $16 million.
"While we are very saddened by this drastic reduction in funding and gutting of the program, GPSS considers the preservation of Work-Study as a victory, given the fact that the House originally proposed an outright suspension of the program," Henry said.
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Past blog posts on childcare
***
UW students bring kids to classes, seek child-care help
Seattle Times, May 9, 2011
Kids in the Quad
The Daily, May 5, 2011
New GPSS task force meets to discuss increase in resources on campus for student-parents
The Daily, January 31, 2011
The cost of care
The Daily, October 5, 2010
Student-parents concerned with campus resources
The Daily, September 29, 2010
The reconciliation budget bill included $75,000 a year in funding over two years for the program, which is awarded to four-year and community and technical colleges as grants to match existing campus childcare investments.
The reinstatement is an unlikely and significant development in a legislative session in which lawmakers were facing a $5.3 billion budget shortfall and cut funding to higher education by $535 million. The University of Washington's operating budget was cut 33 percent, or $209 million.
"It is an amazing advocacy accomplishment for a suspended program to have its funding reinstated, given this budget climate," said Ben Henry, Graduate & Professional Student Senate (GPSS) Vice President and Washington Student Association (WSA) legislative liaison. "As a result, hundreds of students with children across the state, including at UW, will see fewer barriers to completing their degrees."
WSA Executive Director Mike Bogatay says it's a "done deal," as Gov. Chris Gregoire will not be able to veto this particular budget line item. "The Governor can only line-item veto what is written in the budget," he said. "Since it was included in carry-forward funding and not written in as budget proviso, she doesn't have the authority to (veto) it."
GPSS and WSA spent much of this legislative session advocating for restoration of this program, proposing what became Senate Bill 5795, which would have created a funding mechanism for the program via unclaimed lottery prizes. The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, would have funded the program at $250,000 a year.
"The Legislature did not fund Child Care Matching Grants at what we were asking for in the bill, but, given what we were up against this year, this was a huge victory for us," Henry said.
Said GPSS President Sarah Reyneveld: "The reinstatement of the program demonstrates that the state Legislature feels strongly that funding child care for student-parents is worth the investment, as it increases access and timeliness to degree completion."
Sam Shaddox, the student member of the HECB, says the program is "critical to maintaining educational opportunies for all Washington citizens, and this keeps the door open for more funding in the future. Each and every dollar this program receives goes toward maintaining accessibility to higher education for Washington's citizens. This is recognition by the Legislature that child-care funding is a barrier to higher education that has to be addressed."
Said GPSS President Sarah Reyneveld: "The reinstatement of the program demonstrates that the state Legislature feels strongly that funding child care for student-parents is worth the investment, as it increases access and timeliness to degree completion."
Sam Shaddox, the student member of the HECB, says the program is "critical to maintaining educational opportunies for all Washington citizens, and this keeps the door open for more funding in the future. Each and every dollar this program receives goes toward maintaining accessibility to higher education for Washington's citizens. This is recognition by the Legislature that child-care funding is a barrier to higher education that has to be addressed."
While this program's reinstatement presents a win, it was a very rough session for graduate and professional student interests. Besides institutional funding cuts, funding for what had been the last remaining state financial aid program that benefits graduate students, State Work Study, was cut by $31 million, or 66 percent, to $16 million.
"While we are very saddened by this drastic reduction in funding and gutting of the program, GPSS considers the preservation of Work-Study as a victory, given the fact that the House originally proposed an outright suspension of the program," Henry said.
Other changes to the State Work Study program include increasing the required employer share of wages and discontinuing non-resident student eligibility for the program. Further, the HECB will adjust employer match rates and revise distribution methods to institutions by considering other factors such as off-campus job development, historical utilization trends, and student need.
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Past blog posts on childcare
***
Past news coverage on this state program:
Seattle Times, March 15, 2011
The Daily, March 1, 2011
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Past news coverage on childcare on campus:
UW students bring kids to classes, seek child-care help
Seattle Times, May 9, 2011
Kids in the Quad
The Daily, May 5, 2011
New GPSS task force meets to discuss increase in resources on campus for student-parents
The Daily, January 31, 2011
The cost of care
The Daily, October 5, 2010
Student-parents concerned with campus resources
The Daily, September 29, 2010
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