The Washington governor’s office wants to claw back $28.5 million from community colleges during next year’s legislative session—a move that colleges warn could lead to layoffs.
The Office of Financial Management (OFM) says a miscue in the budget led certain funds to be “duplicated” and now they must be “unallocated to colleges,” according to a memo sent to the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
In an Aug. 22 letter, David Schumacher, former director of the OFM, said that addressing the error will require action by lawmakers to get the money back via cuts in a 2025 supplemental budget.
The state board, however, approved a budget request that would either increase the system’s base funding or boost its appropriations for the College Affordability Program, which is compensating colleges for revenue lost from a 5 percent tuition cut in 2015.
“This is something that was not the fault of the state board or colleges,” board chair Martin Valadez told The Washington State Standard. “This money has already basically been spent.”
Community colleges have already factored the dollars into budgets to cover operations, so if the $28.5 million is cut, it could lead to hiring freezes, layoffs, delays of new programs or possible program closures.
