We need more than tuition cuts

You probably heard that Senate Republicans championed a 25 percent tuition reduction for college students. A laudable goal for sure, but this claim is a gross overstatement of the truth.

I want to take a moment to set the record straight on the higher education tuition cuts that were approved by lawmakers this session.

Let’s be clear — I and my fellow lawmakers are all for making college more affordable.

The debate was never about whether we should lower tuition. The debate was over how to pay for tuition cuts, while also addressing the need of financial aid for under-served students.

Reducing tuition costs hundreds of millions of dollars depending on the size of the cut. If the state is going to lower tuition for students, we must backfill those lost dollars through direct support to the colleges and universities.

This is where Democrats and Republicans disagreed.

Democrats, again supportive of tuition cuts, insisted on paying for the tuition reductions through dependable and reliable revenue sources.

Republicans insisted on using excessive fund transfers and gimmicks. This political maneuvering was well documented. Editorials across the state used phrases like “smoke-and-mirrors budgeting techniques,” “a shell game,” “undependable revenue,” and “unsustainable gimmicks” to describe the GOP budget.

Once the Senate Republicans finally agreed to end about $452 million in corporate tax breaks to pay for the tuition cuts and other key investments, the nearly six-month Olympia logjam broke. A final operating budget was approved by the Legislature and sent to Gov. Jay Inslee.

The original GOP plan gave undergraduate students at UW a nearly 30 percent tuition reduction. But the plan called for smaller reductions for students at the other four-year schools, such as a 17 percent cut at Eastern Washington University. And the 230,000 community and technical college (CTC) students in Washington state would have only received a 1.8 percent reduction. That’s a meager $59 cut in tuition— not even enough to cover the cost of a textbook!

Students at community and technical colleges make up about 60 percent of our public higher education student body; 6 of 10 college students would have been left behind under the initial Senate Republican proposal. That’s hardly something to brag about.

When the lead negotiator for the Senate Republicans was asked why they didn’t give real relief to CTC students, Sen. John Braun testified in committee, “Our current community colleges, if you compare nationwide, are not in a bad position affordability-wise.” The fact is that Sen. Braun’s proposal would have left our community college tuition 7 percent above the national average, and UW tuition 7 percent below the national average.

When you look at the financial need of CTC students, it’s clear that Sen. Braun’s plan would have only made matters worse: between 2007 and 2013, the number of student borrowers increased 83 percent at CTCs, compared to a 46 percent increase at research universities. And the average amount CTC students borrowed increased 100 percent, compared to 50 percent at the research schools. If you read The Herald’s July 13 story, “New law cutting higher-ed tuition ‘huge deal for students,’” you’ll see the CTC tuition cut is very welcome news.

(While the story credits budget “crafting” as the reason for CTC tuition was cut, it was actually House Democrats who insisted all students, including those at community and technical colleges, receive a tuition break.)

Besides providing much-needed tuition relief for all college students, the Legislature also invested in early learning, mental health, state parks and the social safety net. Likewise, we made historic investments in K-12 education, including two-year cost-of-living adjustments for teachers. But we need to do more to find permanent solutions to fully meet our McCleary obligation to amply fund K-12 education.

These achievements for the people of Washington were reached once all sides agreed to reduce the use of gimmicks and increase revenue by closing a few corporate tax breaks. However, sustainable tuition relief and other important investments won’t be possible down the road without additional revenue.

Assuming lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to continue investing in Washington’s future, revenue reform must be part of the discussion to ensure we’re providing opportunity for all, not just the wealthy few.

State Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo, represents the 21st Legislative District, which includes Edmonds, north Lynnwood and Mukilteo. She serves as vice chairwoman of the Education Committee, and is also a member of the Early Learning and Human Services and the Transportation committees.