Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee
Event Log
T'wina Nobles — T’wina Nobles opens the meeting and is acknowledged with brief thanks and greetings from others, including thanks to the chair and a greeting to Chair Nobles.
T'wina Nobles — The speaker referred to the T'wina Nobles Young Professional Scholarship they started nearly eight years ago.
T'wina Nobles — Addressed as Chair by the witness.
T'wina Nobles — Addressed as Chair Nobles by the witness.
T'wina Nobles — Referenced as having spoken about attending a community college.
T'wina Nobles — Addressed as Chair Nobles by Marina Parr.
T'wina Nobles — Chair Nobles is addressed at the opening of the presentation as the presenters greet the chair and committee and begin their testimony.
T'wina Nobles — During the committee question period, the speaker repeatedly addresses Chair T'wina Nobles as 'Madam Chair' while asking a series of questions and a quick follow-up, indicating a continuous exchange under the chair's management.
Drew Hansen — Drew Hansen was invited to introduce himself and then identified himself as the Vice Chair and a Senator from the 23rd Legislative District.
Drew Hansen — The chair called on Vice Chair Hansen next for questions.
Drew Hansen — Senator Hansen raised a follow-up question about Workforce Pell, asking whether it would be evaluated and qualify at the program level rather than the student level. The response acknowledged it as a good question.
Drew Hansen — Referenced in the question order as 'Vice Chair.'
Ivan — Thanked for prior remarks or assistance.
Dr. Harold — Credited with chairing the work group on the allocation model.
Dr. Harold — Thanked for the presentation; no additional content beyond being addressed by the chair.
Dr. Hill — Referenced as having given good examples of the impact of not fully covering compensation increases.
Matt Boehnke — The chair called on Senator Matt Boehnke, who then identified himself as representing the 8th District and Columbia Basin College. He followed with comments thanking the presenters for their help during recent SNAP issues and emphasized that the impacts were affecting families, not just students.
Matt Boehnke — Senator Matt Boehnke is introduced, then thanks the chair and Marina and comments positively on Career Bridge data as a way to counter misinformation about higher education. The witness responds that she will share information back with him regarding possible gaps and reporting requirements.
Vandana Slatter — Vandana Slatter asked about basic needs navigators, including how colleges are using them creatively alongside SNAP and BFET, and followed up by asking whether the navigators are already being used at maximum capacity or whether additional resources are needed.
Vandana Slatter — Senator Vandana Slatter is referenced as the next questioner, then asks whether Workforce Pell is a new program or an expansion and whether Pell amounts are decreasing. The witness responds directly to her question, continuing the same discussion about Workforce Pell and traditional Pell.
Vandana Slatter — Senator Vandana Slatter asks about internships and what opportunities exist after earning a four-year degree, including what comes next for students with liberal arts or broader degrees.
Jackie Kane — Jackie Kane is introduced and then identifies herself as president of AFT Washington, a labor federation made up of 40 union locals, as she begins her testimony.
Jackie Kane — Referenced as having made similar points about contingent faculty conditions.
Suzanne Sutherland — Invited to present alongside Jackie Kane; identified as Washington Association Higher Education Chair.
Susie Sutherland — Susie Sutherland introduced herself as the AHE chair and local president at Clark College, then described her long career there as a communication studies professor since 2002, including years as an adjunct before earning tenure in 2014. She explained that while raising two daughters, she experienced the instability of adjunct work and an unpredictable schedule, which informs her perspective on the challenges faced by part-time faculty. She then began transitioning to a broader discussion of the role of community and technical colleges.
Jackie — The prior speaker is thanked by name.
Suzanne — Chair interrupts Suzanne and asks her to email final comments due to time.
Marina Parr — Marina Parr, Director of Workforce System Advancement with the Workforce Board, is introduced and begins her testimony on the workforce program impacts of H.R. 1, along with updates to the Career Bridge website and related workforce initiatives such as Workforce Pell.
Marina — Thanked for the prior presentation and responses before the committee moved to the next agenda item.
Joel Anderson — Joel Anderson is introduced as a presenter from the Washington Student Achievement Council for the Washington Completes FAFSA campaign, then identifies himself for the record as the Associate Director of Legislative and External Affairs at the council.
Joel Anderson — Co-presenter on the dashboard and FAFSA campaign.
Joel Anderson — Addressed directly by the committee member, who greeted him and asked a follow-up question about pilot schools.
Sarah Wise — Sarah Wise is introduced as a presenter from the Washington Student Achievement Council, speaking on the Washington Completes FAFSA campaign.
Sarah Weiss — Sarah Weiss, Director of College Access Initiatives at the Washington Student Achievement Council, was introduced and then discussed her work supporting college access. She was noted for giving a presentation to graduating seniors at a Renton High School signing ceremony about applying for financial aid and pursuing higher education, and she then spoke about the Washington Completes FAFSA campaign and its goals, including student involvement on the advisory board.
Sarah Weiss — Explained the dashboard leaderboard and invited questions.
Joel Anderson / Sarah Weiss — Described the publicly available dashboard and noted it shows aggregate FAFSA completion data.
Sarah Weiss / Joel Anderson — After the presentation, the witness responded to committee questions by reaffirming that every effort would be made to reach the FAFSA/WASFA completion goal and confirming that shareable FAFSA materials and direct communications for legislators are part of the plan.
WSAC presenter — The WSAC presenter responded to a question about homeschool outreach, acknowledging the question and then noting they would need to double-check last year’s overlap with other programs. They also explained that this year’s rubric was designed to avoid schools already receiving substantial resources, and offered to follow up with more information.
Joel — Joel is first invited to jump in and add to the response, and later he is thanked along with Sarah at the close of the presentation, all within the same discussion segment.
Sarah — Sarah is thanked for the presentation.
Siena Gerard — Siena Gerard is introduced as part of the next student panel, invited to come forward and speak, and then begins her testimony by introducing herself as the Washington Student Association’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs and a UW Bothell student.
Nathan Tipman — Nathan Tipman is introduced as one of the student presenters, then comes forward and identifies himself as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the GUEDUC Student Union at The Evergreen State College.
Ben Brown — Ben Brown is introduced as one of the student presenters, then comes forward and introduces himself as the Director of Legislative Affairs for Associated Students at the University of Washington, Tacoma, with one mention also noting that he is a senior studying political science and labor studies.
students — Students were cited as saying the scholarship was essential for graduation and preventing dropout.
Nate Humphrey — Nate Humphrey is introduced as the new executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and gives opening remarks about the system. He says he is pleased to provide an update and answer questions, describes the system as open access and open door, and explains that it serves Washingtonians statewide by meeting community and workforce needs through 34 strategically located institutions. He highlights affordability, noting tuition is under $5,000 for the average full-time student in the 2025–26 academic year, references his prior work as workforce director at the State Board, and notes that the State Board is a nine-member body appointed by the Governor.
Nate Humphrey — Praised for giving a strong overview of the system and its accomplishments.
Dr. Ivan Harrell — Dr. Ivan Harrell is introduced and then identifies himself as the president of Tacoma Community College, greeting the committee.
Judy Warnick — Thanked for 5682; likely refers to Senator Judy Warnick.
Judy Warnick — Judy Warnick identified herself as representing the 13th Legislative District, which includes Big Bend Community College, and then asked about the 905,000 SNAP recipients—specifically what percentage were students. A later remark noted that Ranking Member Warnick had already asked some of the same questions, reinforcing that her comments were part of the same discussion about student participation and related college partnerships.
Judy Warnick — Judy Warnick raised questions as a rural representative, including outreach to homeschool students and comments about the competitive approach to legislative districts, and the presenters responded that they would follow up on her question.