Committee hears bill to tweak oversight of Workforce Education Investment Account board
Loading...
Summary
The Post Secondary Education Workforce Committee heard testimony for Substitute Senate Bill 5,931, which would lengthen co-chair terms and change several administrative rules for the WEA oversight board; supporters said the changes clarify operations and that a required public data dashboard was never implemented due to funding limits.
The Post Secondary Education Workforce Committee took testimony on Substitute Senate Bill 5,931 on Feb. 18, a measure that would make administrative changes to the Workforce Education Investment Account accountability and oversight board.
Saranda Ross, staff to the committee, told members the bill would increase co-chair terms from one to two years, allow the board to meet more than four times a year, require consultation with the Student Achievement Council when reviewing investments, and eliminate the statutory requirement that the board maintain a public data dashboard.
"Turning to the bill before you, substitute Senate Bill 5,931 makes the following administrative changes to the WEA Board," Ross said, summarizing the main provisions. Supporters described the changes as technical fixes intended to help the board align with budgeting cycles and operate more efficiently.
Senator Judy Warnock, sponsor of the Senate companion, said the Student Achievement Council brought the bill and she supported it as a straightforward administrative measure. "This bill was brought to me by the Student Achievement Council, and asking for just simply administrative changes to this oversight board," Warnock said.
Joel Anderson, associate director of legislative and external affairs at the Student Achievement Council (identified in the record as WASAC), testified that the legislation has no fiscal impact and that the board does not appropriate funds. He told the committee a public dashboard required by statute was never created because of inadequate funding and was later defunded in the last biennial operating budget.
"The dashboard was never created due to inadequate funding and ultimately, was fully defunded in last year's biennial operating budget," Anderson said. He also described staff efforts to trace how WEA account money is spent, noting a large portion of appropriations are carry-forward items he characterized as time-consuming to track.
Vice Chair Nance reported 42 people had signed in on the bill (41 pro, 1 con) and one person testified in person. The committee did not take a vote on SB 5,931 at this hearing; Chair Paul closed the hearing and said he intends to place the bills on the committee's Tuesday "exec" agenda if a majority of members support that step.
Next steps: the committee set amendment request and approval deadlines for the coming week and adjourned without taking final action on SB 5,931.
