OLYMPIA — Republican and Democratic leaders in the state Senate announced Wednesday they have agreed to delay a requirement that high school students pass a biology exam to graduate.
The deal ensures nearly 2,000 students in the Class of 2015 who failed the test will be able to get their diplomas.
And it clears the way for senators to act Thursday to suspend a voter-approved initiative to reduce class sizes, an issue that stood as the final obstacle to lawmakers concluding the longest legislative session in state history.
Suspending the measure, Initiative 1351, will require a two-thirds majority for passage. For the past week, the minority Democrats have withheld the votes needed to reach that mark unless they could secure reforms of the high school assessment system to assist those 2,000 students.
A new bill introduced Wednesday will waive the biology test requirement for graduating classes in 2015 and 2016.
“This allows us to come in, do our work and be prepared to sine die at the appropriate time,” said Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, of the deal. “It’s time to be done.”
Bailey said local school leaders told her they “wanted us to do this. This gives us time to look at the tests and the graduation requirements.”
Gov. Jay Inslee called the agreement “great news.” He praised Senate Democrats for insisting the biology test requirement be waived and lauded Senate Republican leaders for agreeing to a compromise.
The Senate’s inaction on Initiative 1351 opened up a $2 billion hole in the two-year budget Inslee signed June 30.
That is the projected cost to carry out the mandates in the initiative. There’s no money in the budget to pay for it because it’s been assumed the measure would be postponed for four years.
“The agreement sets the stage for the Senate to address the delay in Initiative 1351 as passed by the House of Representatives,” reads a joint statement issued by Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate.
On Thursday, barring any breaches in the deal, the Senate act on bills suspending the initiative, delaying the biology assessment and approving the bond bill for the capital budget signed by the governor June 30.
On Friday, the House also must approve the biology test bill. Members also must pass two bills related to the $16 billion transportation package.
Then, if there are no further hiccups, the 2015 session could end Friday. That would be the 176th day – 103 days in regular session and the remainder spread through three extra sessions.
Resolving the dispute on the high school testing has been the focus of Senate leaders since a meltdown in the chamber in the early hours of July 1.
At that time Senate Republicans, who hold the majority, had tried to pass the bill suspending the initiative. They needed 33 votes but only got 27 as Democrats dug in with their demand for action on the assessments.
This week, Senate leaders began negotiating in earnest. Senate Democrats accepted a GOP offer about 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the Democratic caucus.
It differed in two significant ways from what Republicans brought to them at 3 a.m. July 1.
First, it delayed the biology assessment for two years rather than one. And second, it did not change the requirement that students must pass math and English assessments to graduate starting in 2019. Senate Republicans had wanted to make it effective for the class of 2018.
Senators are expected on the floor at 2 p.m. Thursday. The House, which also must pass the testing reform bill, is expected in on Friday.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com
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