By Marie Sullivan, legconsultant@wastatepta.org
As reported last week, both the House and Senate Democratic budget chairs released their proposed supplemental budgets for operations, construction, and transportation. Despite an uptick in projected revenue collections for the current biennium (ending June 30, 2027) and the next biennium (July 1, 2027 – June 30, 2029), both operating budgets would reduce funding for K-12 education. The House proposed about $88 million in cuts, while the Senate backed off their more severe cut to Transition to Kindergarten (TTK) bringing their proposed cuts to more than $135 million. And neither of the budgets address the ever-growing gap in the cost of Materials, Supplies & Operating Costs.
What can you do? Take 2 minutes to fill out the Action Alert and let state budget writers know that WSPTA members are watching and expect them to uphold the state’s obligation to its paramount duty – public education. Districts and students have already done with less; the state needs to do more. Click here to complete this week’s Action Alert on K-12 funding.
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Click here for Marie’s comprehensive bill tracker and details report for Week 8 of the 2026 Legislative Session.
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As passed in both chambers, the 2026 supplemental operating budget reductions are:
|
What |
House Proposed |
Senate Proposed |
Senate/House through 6/30/29 or comments |
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Transition to Kindergarten |
($18.97 million)[1] |
($31.55 million)[2] |
Senate 4-year: ($130.6 million) House 4-year: ($69 million) |
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Bus depreciation[3] |
($21.105 million) |
($21.105 million) |
Senate 4-year: ($63.3 million) House 4-year: ($63.3 million) |
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Federal Bus Grants depreciation adjustment[4] |
($4.65 million) |
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House 4-year: ($13.95 million) |
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Local Effort Assistance
|
($25.09 million)[5] |
($59.081 million)[6] |
Senate 4-year: ($107.4 million) House 4-year: ($45.62 million) |
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[1] House: TTK is reduced by 25%, decrease from 7,266 to 5,450 statewide slots in the 2026-27 school year. OSPI is directed to collaborate with DCYF to redistribute the remaining slots prioritized by schools located within extreme childcare access deserts, except that OSPI must prioritize funding for existing programs that serve students who are eligible for FRPL, Working Connections Childcare, or special education services.
[2] Senate: TTK is set by the appropriation amount and slots are to be determined by income eligibility (SB 6260).
[3] Bus depreciation payments are extended from 8 or 13 years to 15 years (SB 6260).
[4] House would remove federal grants and rebates for zero emission bus purchases from the state depreciation formula.
[5] House: LEA enhancement is reduced by $100/student in CY27, for a total of $300 per student enhancement.
[6] Senate: LEA enhancement is reduced from $250 to $150, for a total of $150 per student enhancement in CY27.
|
Running Start[1] |
($14 million) |
($14 million) |
Senate 4-year: ($44.4 million) House 4-year: ($44.4 million) |
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Retiree Healthcare Subsidy (SEBB) |
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($8.213 million) |
Senate 4-year: (29.276 million) |
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Other cuts – Senate |
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($3.312 million) |
Senate 4-year: ($8.636 million) |
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Other cuts – House |
($3.18 million) |
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BEST, Leadership Academy |
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LEA Online Enrollment Cap[2] |
($1.7 million) |
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House 4-year: ($7.3 million) |
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Charter School Enrichment[3] |
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$7.462 million |
Removed in Senate W&M, funding reverted to TTK |
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Community Eligibility Provision (school meals) |
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$3.289 million |
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Dual Credit Exam Fees[4] |
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$2 million |
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$279,000 |
$1.834 million |
House would withhold 1.9% of MSOC for grades 9-12 |
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Foster Youth – Treehouse |
$3.5 million |
$3.5 million |
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9th Grade Success Program |
$1.5 million |
$1.5 million |
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Dual Language Grants |
$1.5 million |
$1.0 million |
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Homeless Student Support |
$1.2 million |
$1.2 million |
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Truancy Funding |
$1.4 million |
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Imagination Library |
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$1.017 million |
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Other budget items or details |
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[1] Running Start is reduced from 1.4 student FTE to 1.2 student FTE.
[2] Additional savings achieved by reducing LEA funding for online ALE program enrollments from 33% to 25% of total enrollment.
[3] Senator Lisa Wellman’s amendment decreased the charter school student enrichment and increased TTK by the same amount (approximately $7.4 million).
[4] Provides funding for fees for low-income students to take dual credit (AP, IB, Cambridge) exams (amended on Senate floor).
[5] Senate includes funding for the HSBP online, universal platform and supports two OSPI staff.
[6] House only supports two OSPI staff to implement; would allow OSPI to withhold up to 1.9% of MSOC for grades 9-12.
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Federal Title II, part A |
$1 million |
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House authorizes use of Federal Title II (professional development) for isolation and restraint pilot programs or for trauma-informed PD as defined by ESHB 1795. |
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MSOC grades 9-12 – High School and Beyond Plan online, universal platform |
1.9% holdback |
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House allows OSPI to withhold 1.9% from the MSOC 9-12 for the online, universal HSBP platform. |
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Board of Health rules for schools |
New rules would go into effect after the start of the fiscal year following the next legislative session after the rules are adopted. |
Allows Phase 1[1] of the new rules to be implemented with no direct appropriation. |
Sec. 221, Department of Health |
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School food services |
$244 million |
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Shifts funding to be from the Education Legacy Trust Account, not General Fund State |
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School District exemptions from ESSB 5814 (2025) |
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$15.2 million FY27 |
Senate 4-year: $33.7 million |
The next step is for the Senate and House budget teams to work together to reconcile differences on ESSB 5998. Initially they will review their budgets for items they have in common and, for the most part, take those off the table. Then they will focus on the areas of differences. Don’t expect to see a final supplemental operating budget much before March 10th or 11th. Once the budget bill emerges from a conference committee, a legislator can only vote Aye or Nay when it returns to the floor.
Unlike the operating budget, which had many amendments and speeches during final passage in the House and Senate, ESSB 6005 (the transportation budget) passed each chamber unanimously. The Senate also passed the 2026 supplemental capital budget, SSB 6003, unanimously.
Speaking of the capital budget, there wasn’t a lot of news for K-12.
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What |
House |
Senate |
Comments |
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Small District Modernization Grants |
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Construction grants |
$28.8 million |
$70.8 million |
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[1] Minimum costs at $9,135; maximum (without dedicated staff to support) is $168,450.
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Planning grants |
$194,000 |
$349,000 |
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Seismic Safety grants |
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$5 million |
North Beach |
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Distressed Schools |
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$3.74 million |
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SCAP Enhancement Program Pilot |
$3.78 million |
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Garfield ES/MS project – $1.42M Wellpinit Elementary School Project – $1.5M |
What’s happening with WSPTA’s Top 5 Priorities?
Addressing the Student Mental Health Crisis
2SHB 1634 would create a framework to provide school districts and public schools with assistance in supporting student behavioral health. The bill passed the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee without amendment and is the Senate Rules Committee.
HB 2429 passed the House unanimously. The bill extends the Children and Youth Behavioral Work Group two years to December 30, 2031, and would have the governor, subject to the availability of funds, maintain an executive coordination officer for the Children and Youth system of care. The bill is scheduled for executive action today in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Supporting Funding, Inclusion and Supports in Special Education
SHB 1795, addressing restraint or isolation of students in public schools and educational programs, was amended in the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Committee. The revised bill can be found here. The bill has been passed to the Senate Rules Committee.
SHB 2557 would require a school district to provide the student’s parent or guardian with a copy of the special education evaluation report no later than the 35th school day following receipt of consent to evaluate the student, unless an exception applies or the parent or guardian provides a written waiver. The bill passed out of the Senate education committee without changes and is in Senate Rules.
Preventing and Reducing Gun Violence and Suicide
HB 2320 would regulate firearms from 3D printers, computer numerical control milling machines, or digital firearm manufacturing code. The bill was amended slightly in the Senate Law & Justice Committee and then passed the Senate on Saturday, February 28, by a vote of 29-18. It will return to the House for concurrence with the changes.
Other bills we’re watching
- Bills to address last year’s extension of sales taxes on services to school districts and non-profit organizations are still active in the House and Senate. ESSB 6113 would specifically exempt services provided by a public agency to another public agency when an interlocal agreement is in place. It is scheduled for executive action in the House Finance Committee today.
SB 6351 is also scheduled for executive action Monday, in the Senate Ways & Means Committee. An amendment would clarify that the exemption from SB 5814 (2025) applies to schools, school districts and Educational Services Districts (ESDs).
The companion to ESSB 6113 is SHB 2257. This was the first of the bills to exempt school districts and ESDs from the new sales tax on services. The bill also would exempt non-profit organizations, like WSPTA, from live presentations. Elements from the bill were added to ESSB 6346, the so-called tax on millionaires, before passing the House Finance Committee last Friday. The exemption would take effect July 1, 2026. The bill now moves to the House Rules Committee. The Senate had booked about $15 million to implement the exemption for school districts and non-profit organizations in the operating budget; the House had not.
- ESHB 1295 would require that updated or newly adopted literacy curricula for K-4 graders be evidence-aligned and informed, aligned with the state learning standard in ELA, part of a comprehensive literacy program, and consistent with revised teacher endorsement standards under the act, beginning in 2027. The bill was heavily amended by the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee and has passed to the Senate Rules Committee. Bill sponsor Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, continues to work on ideas to restore some of the elements removed in the policy committee.
- ESSB 5984 and ESHB 2225 would regulate AI companion chatbots. The Senate bill was modified by the House Technology, Economic Development, and Veterans Committee to include an amendment proposed by Washington State PTA. The House bill is in the Senate Rules Committee.
- SHB 2594 would codify the federal McKinney-Vento law into state law. Much of what the bill does is already practiced or required in state law. The bill is scheduled for executive action in the Senate Ways & Means Committee today; it has no amendments.
- The House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee passed SB 5906 with an amendment to strengthen immigration enforcement around adult family homes. The bill would prohibit immigration enforcement officers from entering nonpublic areas of schools, early learning facilities, and other locations without a judicial warrant or court order. It has passed to the House Rules Committee.
Bills that failed to pass by the opposite chamber’s policy committee cutoff
The following bills didn’t meet the February 25th deadline to pass off out of the policy committee in the “opposite chamber.”
- SB 5177 would have required the experiences of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups when identifying professional development resources.
- SB 5985 would have directed OSPI to update health learning standards to provide instruction on the difference between regular menstrual pain and endometriosis.
- SB 6239 would have required arbitration for tort claims against Washington state and its subdivisions, like school districts.
Advocacy in Action
WSPTA was very active last week, testifying against the House and Senate operating budget proposals and weighing in on various policy bills. Due to the fast and furious nature of last week’s activities, look for the TVW clips of WSPTA Advocates in Action in next week’s report.
Washington State PTA will be signing onto a coalition letter directed to House and Senate budget writers to: preserve TTK, remove the extension to bus depreciation payments, and restore the LEA enhancement promised in the 2025 session. Joining WSPTA will be the associations for teachers, school administrators, school directors, school principals, and ESDs. A link to the letter can be found here once it has been sent.
The Week Ahead
Today is the final day for bills to pass out of opposite chamber fiscal committees. Beginning March 3rd, the action will turn solely to the floor. Bills must pass off the opposite chamber’s floor by 5 PM on Friday, March 6th. The session is set to finish (sine die) by March 12th.
Here is Monday’s executive session bills (subject to change). All hearings can be viewed on TVW:
Finance (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 3/2 @ 8:00am
- ESSB 6113 – Exec Session – Concerning taxes administered by the department of revenue.
- ESSB 6162 – Exec Session – Concerning property tax reform.
- ESB 6347 – Exec Session – Undoing the recent changes to the estate tax. (REVISED FOR ENGROSSED: Undoing certain changes to the estate tax.)
Appropriations (House) – HHR A and Virtual JLOB – 3/2 @ 10:30am
- 2SSB 5969 – Exec Session – Reducing duplication between high school and beyond plans and individualized education program transition plans.
Ways & Means (Senate) – SHR 4 and Virtual JACB – 3/2 @ 10:30am
- 2SHB 2105 – Exec Session – Concerning immigrant worker protections.
- ESHB 2442 – Exec Session – Providing local governments tax resources and fund flexibility.
- SB 6351 – Exec Session – Increasing fiscal resources for students and children by providing targeted sales tax exemptions for schools and certain before-and-after school care programs and arts and cultural classes.
- 2SHB 2429 – Exec Session – Supporting children and youth behavioral health. (Support)
- SB 6353 – Exec Session – Modifying the working connections childcare program.
- HB 1796 – Exec Session – Concerning school districts’ authority to contract indebtedness for school construction.
- SHB 2594 – Exec Session – Ensuring that unhoused children and youths in Washington have equal access to free, appropriate public education.
- SB 6260 – Exec Session – Implementing efficiencies and programming changes in public education.
Transportation (Senate) – SHR 1 and Virtual J.A. Cherberg – 3/2 @ 1:30pm
- E2SHB 2251 – Exec Session – Concerning climate commitment act accounts.