Washington SB 5958: Providing capital budget matching grants to independent higher education institutions.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to capital budget matching grants to independent 1
higher  education  institutions;  and  adding  a  new  section  to chapter 2
28B.07 RCW.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.07 5
RCW to read as follows:6
(1)  The  department  is  authorized  to  administer  a  capital  budget 7
matching grants program for higher education institutions as provided 8
in this section.9
(2) Project eligibility. Grants pursuant to this section may only 10
be  awarded  for  major  capital  construction  projects  meeting  both  of 11
the following criteria: (a) Projects must have estimated costs of not 12
less  than  $2,000,000;  and (b)  projects  must  construct  or  improve 13
facilities that are primarily for instructional purposes.14
(3) Eligible institutions. Only higher education institutions are 15
eligible for a grant under this section.16
(4)  Administration.  Subject  to  the  availability  of  amounts 17
appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall develop 18
a grant application process and assist higher education institutions 19
in  matters  related  to  applying  for  grants  under  this  section.  The 20
department  may  use  up  to  three  percent  of  amounts  appropriated  for 21
S-4041.1
SENATE BILL 5958
State of Washington67th Legislature2022 Regular Session
By Senator Honeyford
p. 1SB 5958

the  grant  program  under  this  section  for  costs  that  result  from 1
administration of the program.2
(5)  Matching  funds.  For  each  grant  awarded  under  this  section, 3
the  department  must  require  that  the  higher  education  institution 4
that  receives  the  grant  provides  matching  nonstate  funding  equal  to 5
at least 100 percent of the grant award.6
(6)  Grant  application  evaluation  process.  The  department  shall 7
consult  with  the  state  board  for  community  and  technical  colleges, 8
the  Washington  higher  education  facilities  authority  created  under 9
RCW 
28B.07.030, and appropriate stakeholders to create a competitive 10
grant  application  evaluation  and  ranking  process  pursuant  to  this 11
section.  This  consultative  process  must  create  an  application 12
evaluation  and  ranking  system  that  results  in  a  single  prioritized 13
list  of  proposed  grants  from  the  pool  of  applications  submitted  by 14
eligible  institutions  in  each  application  cycle.  The  prioritization 15
process developed under this section must give primary consideration 16
to institutional programmatic needs and facility conditions.17
(7)(a) Required grant list. Except as provided for under (b) of 18
this  subsection,  the  department  must  propose  a  list  of  prioritized 19
grants  pursuant  to  this  section  for  higher  education  institutions 20
meeting the eligibility requirements established in subsection (3) of 21
this section to the governor by September 1st of even-numbered years. 22
This  list  must  include: (i)  A  description  of  the  proposed  project; 23
(ii)  the  proposed  construction  grant  amount; (iii)  higher  education 24
institutions'  share  of  project  cost;  and (iv)  the  estimated  total 25
project cost.26
(b) The initial list of prioritized grants proposed under (a) of 27
this subsection must be submitted to the governor in 2022, but is not 28
required to be submitted by September 1st.29
(c)  The  department  and  the  governor  may  determine  the  level  of 30
funding in its omnibus capital appropriations act requests to support 31
grants under this section, but its funding requests must follow the 32
prioritized  list  created  pursuant  to  subsection (6)  of  this  section 33
unless  new  information  determines  that  a  specific  project  is  no 34
longer viable as proposed.35
(8) The department may not expend funding for a project in this 36
section unless and until the nonstate share of that project's costs 37
have been either expended or firmly committed, or both, in an amount 38
sufficient to complete the project or a distinct phase of the project 39
that  is  useable  to  the  public  for  the  purpose  intended  by  the 40
p. 2SB 5958

legislature.  This  requirement  does  not  apply  to  projects  where  a 1
share of the appropriation is for design costs only.2
(9)   Prior   to   receiving   funding,   project   recipients   must 3
demonstrate that the project site is under control for a minimum of 4
10  years,  either  through  ownership  or  a  long-term  lease.  This 5
requirement  does  not  apply  to  appropriations  for  preconstruction 6
activities or appropriations in which the sole purpose is to purchase 7
real  property  that  does  not  include  a  construction  or  renovation 8
component.9
(10)  The  department  may  require  projects  funded  in  this  section 10
to   comply   with   Washington's   high-performance   public   building 11
standards as required by chapter 39.35D RCW.12
(11) The d