Walsh Prefiles Bill to Send Climate Dollars Back to Schools for Utility Costs—Classic Hits 100.7 KLOG News

The Washington State legislative session starts next Monday, and 19th District Representative Jim Walsh has added to his party’s early agenda by prefiling a new bill.

In a release yesterday, Walsh said the bill would direct funds from the Climate Commitment Act back to public schools to help cover higher utility expenses, rather than forcing districts to make cuts elsewhere or divert classroom dollars.

In the release, he stated, “Teachers and principals from the 19th District and other parts of Washington have asked me to ask the Legislature to do something about the bad policies that have driven up the cost of keeping public schools open and running. Their utility bills have gone way up because of the Inslee-Ferguson Climate Commitment Act.”

Walsh says changes to the state budget have also reduced school support for overhead expenses. He says the bill he is proposing makes two straightforward changes to state law: it adds school utility cost relief as an approved use of the Climate Commitment Account, and it adds new overhead allocations that would go into effect next school year. The change would give districts an additional $95 per full-time equivalent student.