As amended, the bill is identical to HB 2366, approved by the House in January. It would require the task force to collect data on teacher compensation from local school districts, and would direct the Legislature to take legislative action by the end of the 2017 session to eliminate the reliance on local school levies referred to by the state supreme court in its “McLeary” decision.

This bill is identical to HB 2366, which passed the House on January 25th by a vote of 64-34. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk for signature.

This bill would bring review and accountability to agency rulemaking by requiring the state Attorney General to confirm that new agency rules or changes to existing rules are legal and constitutional before they are enforced on the public. In addition, the Legislature would have to approve a new rule or rule change within a year of its adoption, or the rule would expire.

The Senate also passed this measure unanimously during the 2015 legislative session, but it failed to gain traction in the House. The bill would provide for dynamic fiscal impact statements on proposed legislation. Under the bill, any member of the fiscal committees of the Legislature could ask the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to prepare a statement that estimates the net fiscal effect of a bill, including changes that may have an effect on the state economy as a whole. The requirement would only apply to bills with an annual cost of more than $10 million.

Under this bill, state residents who are not on registered voter lists would be automatically enrolled if they apply, or have already applied for an enhanced or commercial driver’s licenses, which require citizenship verification. Recipients of social services that require citizenship verification or get health insurance through the state’s health exchange would also be automatically registered. Applicants would be allowed to opt out of automatic voter registration.

This bill would allow recently retired teachers to serve as teachers or substitutes without reducing their earned pension benefits. It also allows certain experienced out-of-state teachers to automatically obtain professional certification in Washington, and creates a recruitment campaign for out-of-state teachers and prospective new teachers in Washington.

This bill would require the development and implementation of a comprehensive, statewide effort to increase the number of qualified individuals who apply for teaching positions in Washington, including recruiting activities and creating statewide recruitment and hiring services. It also provides that certain retired teachers may work as mentors or advisers to student teachers for up to 630 hours per year without a suspension of their pension benefits.