Senate supplemental budget bill includes tuition transfer

The Senate today passed a supplemental budget bill that lawmakers will now attempt to reconcile with a House version passed on Jan. 24.

By a 38-9 vote, the Senate passed ESHB 1086, which was passed out of the Senate Way & Means Committee Thursday evening. Compared to the House version, the Senate version includes a lower level of cuts to some K-12 and health care programs, but it makes additional state-agency administrative reductions and implements a 3 percent pay cut for some state workers three months earlier than previously proposed.

For higher education, the Senate version also would reduce state General Fund support for the State Need Grant program by $25.4 million, but it would fully offset the cut by transferring tuition money primarily used by public colleges and universities for student instruction.