With both houses of the Legislature now meeting for daylong and evening floor sessions, the higher education community’s regulatory reform agenda remains largely intact.
House Bill 2585 and Senate Bill 6401 are the largest measures. Each seek to ease restrictions on business practices relating to procurement, travel, direct deposit and advance purchasing of maintenance agreements. Senate Bill 6198 and House Bill 2452 are worth tracking because they also deal with procurement practices.
House Bill 2259 deals with eliminating duplicative reporting requirements. It was approved by the House 98-0 on Wednesday and now goes to the Senate.
House Bill 2735 updates thresholds for classifying projects as minor capital works or intermediate projects, providing more flexibility and efficiency in getting them funded.
Senate Bill 6069 adds efficiency in the handling of electronic transactions.
Also worth following is Senate Bill 5576, giving WSU the ability to use its building fees more effectively. And two measures that, with voter approval, would give the university more flexibility in the investing of certain operating funds, also are in play. Those are Senate Joint Resolution 8223 and Senate Bill 6468.
Below you’ll find WSU’s testimony on Senate Bill 6401 from earlier this week.