|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WashingtonThe state of Washington was admitted into the Union on November 11, 1889 through a joint Enabling Act. As part of the compact between the United States, Congress, and the new state, a grant of lands was made to support public education. The survey system had established townships, or thirty-six square mile parcels divided into one-square mile sections. The grant to Washington included the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township. Townships were established in the survey system and consisted of thirty-six square mile parcels, six miles on each side. Each square mile was a section and they were numbered from one to thirty six. The original grant included 2.4 million acres and Washington still retains 1,680,000 surface acres and 1,711,418 mineral acres. In 2006, surface revenues generated $124 million, with mineral revenues generating the same. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources is the designated trustee that manages the land to produce revenue for public schools, and the Board of Natural Resources is made up of representative beneficiaries. The Washington State Constitution was amended in the 1960s to create the Common School Construction Fund. The amendment directs the revenue generated from renewable resources from the trust lands, such as timber and grazing, as well as all of the interest and dividends earned on the Permanent Common School Fund to be directed toward common school building construction and renovation. The total distribution to the Common School Construction Fund was $75,136,633 in FY 2006. The Washington State constitution also gives the state legislature the right to determine how the Permanent Common School Fund is invested. The fund's balance was $171,003,906 in FY 2006. In 2007, Brenda Hood, then with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, reported on the immediate victory obtained during the 2007 legislative session. Washington had a very tough legislative session, which just ended, but the trust's interests prevailed in several key areas (whew!). Thanks to a very coordinated effort between the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA), and the State Investment Board (SIB), legislative members heard our arguments and responded. It took 'til the waning hours of session, but they reauthorized the DNR management fee so that the innovative Sustainable Harvest Plan for 1.4 million acres of state forests in western Washington can be implemented; they passed a new law broadening the SIB?s authority to diversify the Permanent Fund investments (a HUGE thank you to Margaret Bird for allowing me to barge in on her time with her new grandchild to review that bill and be sure it did what we needed); and they passed a Forest Health bill that gives us flexibility to continue using contract harvesting where appropriate. They also authorized the higher education institutions to put a measure on the ballot to amend the Constitution and allow them to diversify the investments in their Permanent Fund, putting them on equal footing with the Common School Permanent Fund. DNR received quite a good budget package from the legislature on both operating and capital. In other news, the DNR completed negotiations with the federal services, extending the Habitat Conservation Plan into our riparian areas so that we can finally start actively managing those areas. All in all, things are looking brighter as the sun starts to shine in Washington, the temperature warms up, and the legislature rides out of town. Research Links
Available Documents
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
© Children's Land Alliance Supporting Schools 2003-2010 all rights reserved |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||