Higher education efficiency bills signed into law

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed three of WSU’s priority efficiency bills today.

House Bill 2585 is a measure that will ease restrictions on an array of business practices for the state’s public baccalaureate institutions relating to procurement, travel, direct deposit and advance purchasing of maintenance agreements. It was the largest of a package of regulatory reform bills sought by the state’s six public baccalaureate institutions.

House Bill 2259 will work to eliminate duplicative reporting requirements. A third bill in the package dealing with university capital budgets – House Bill 2735 – died late in the regular session when it failed to get a floor vote in the Senate.

Also signed today was Senate Bill 6468, the enabling legislation for Senate Joint Resolution 8223, which if approved by voters in November would give the university more flexibility in the investing of certain operating funds.

The governor also signed House Bill 2483 which creates the office of the Student Achievement Council.  The Council is being created to assume some of the duties of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, which is scheduled to sunset July 1.