(The Center Square) – Washington state lawmakers are moving closer to passing a bill that would amend the state constitution to allow school districts to issue general obligation bonds for capital purposes, levy taxes to make payments on those bonds, and exceed the constitutional debt limit with a simple majority vote, rather than the current 60% supermajority.
The original Senate Joint Resolution 8200 would have allowed 55% of voters to authorize school district bonds. However, a substitute bill introduced on Thursday by Democratic Sen. Deborah Krishnadasan of Gig Harbor – modeled after House Bill 4201 – would require only that more than half of the votes cast be in favor of the bond request.
The substitute bill was passed out of executive session with a do-pass recommendation on Thursday by the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.
“These amendments would lower the threshold for passing school district bonds to a simple majority,” Krishnadasan reiterated just ahead of the vote.
Committee member Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, told The Center Square he was a bit surprised by the last-minute changeup.
“I had heard chatter, but no one has actually talked to me about it,” Harris said on Friday. “I’ve always signed onto the 55. I helped run that bill a couple [of] years ago in the House since I’m new to the Senate, but this year is different, and I think I’d actually have a hard time with the 55.”
Harris said there’s a lot going on this session regarding proposed property tax increases, which concerns him for taxpayers.
“Just in that committee earlier this week they passed out a slight levy-lift tax, which I voted no on,” Harris explained. “But what concerns me more is the bill to raise the cap on property tax increases to 3%, up from the current 1%. Plus, they’re looking at a B&O [business and occupation] tax. It’s the totality of all these increases that really concerns me.”
Harris said when it comes to bonds for school construction, the taxpayer is obligated for 20 years or more.
“These are long-term debts that I believe we need more than a simple majority to do it,” he said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal told The Center Square he supports the simple majority for school bonds.
“I think voters should have this choice. They are the ones potentially taxing themselves,” he said. “The cool thing about bonds is all the money stays in their community, and it’s not going to a state fund that might go somewhere else.”
Reykdal said making it easier to pass bonds would be especially beneficial for rural districts, which struggle to pass measures with a supermajority.
“I think the other part that is often not understood is this comes with matching money,” he said. “So, in our rural communities, we struggle the most to raise money, but they get the most match. So, if we can get this passed, they’re going to get a lot more state money, too.”
Harris says a bond measure passed in his Vancouver area district several years ago, funding the construction of brand new schools. He was referring to the 2017 passage of a $458 million dollar bond that was approved by almost 70% of voters.
“They’re beautiful, yes, but we have to be very careful with what we’re doing here, and I think having a super majority to approve that makes sense,” Harris added.
Ultimate passage of a simple majority measure for school bonds would require Republican support, as the legislation amends the state constitution. That means it would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate before it could go to voters for a final say.
