The workforce education investment account (WEIA) was created last year to hold the revenues from the new business and occupation tax surcharge, which will fund higher education programs. The bill last year both created the surcharge and made appropriations from the WEIA.

The Legislature returned this year to questions about the administration of the tax and increased caseloads for the Washington College Grant, which is partially funded via the WEIA. The fix enacted earlier this year by the Legislature is estimated to reduce WEIA revenues by $29.6 million this biennium. (For more details on all this, see this policy brief.)

Gov. Inslee had proposed paying for the caseload increases entirely from the WEIA. Both the House chair’s proposal and the Senate chair’s proposal would do the same—they both estimate that this will increase maintenance level WEIA spending by $14.8 million in 2019–21.

Additionally, the Senate chair would reduce policy spending from the WEIA by a net of $16.3 million. (This is the cause of the negative NGFO+WEIA policy changes for higher education shown in the chart in this post.) First, the Senate would increase WEIA spending by $6.0 million for Washington College Grant apprenticeship awards. Second, the Senate would reduce WEIA spending by $18.1 million in a one-time reduction to the expansion of the guided pathways program and by $4.2 million due to an underspending of funding that had been appropriated for nurse educator salaries.

The House chair would increase policy spending from the WEIA by $1.2 million. In the Office of Financial Management, the proposal would increase spending by $286,000 for additional staff at the Education Research and Data Center. In the Employment Security Department, the proposal would increase spending by $875,000 for career connected learning grants.

Finally, both proposals would appropriate funds from the general fund–state to the WEIA “to ensure the account is not in deficit” in 2019–21. The Senate chair would appropriate $23.0 million and the House chair would appropriate $41.3 million for this purpose.