The bill adds a new section to chapter 28B.50 RCW creating a statutory requirement that Washington community and technical colleges develop and implement pay-equity plans to increase compensation for part-time and adjunct faculty, subject to amounts appropriated specifically for this purpose. It establishes a phased schedule for part-time compensation measured against “comparably qualified full-time and tenured faculty”: at least 75% in the 2028–29 academic year, 80% in 2029–30, and 85% in 2030–31. The bill ties pay-equity standards to instructional work, explicitly including direct student support, time in class, preparation, grading and assessment, and office hours equivalent to those required for full-time tenure‑track faculty under the relevant collective bargaining agreement. The college board is required to transmit progress reports to the governor and the legislature’s higher education committees: an update by January 1, 2030, on progress toward the 85% goal (in accordance with RCW 43.01.036) and a detailed implementation report by December 1, 2031. The December 1, 2031 report must include at minimum the percentage of full-time pay attained by part-time/adjunct faculty, demographic data (including race and ethnicity) and academic department information for faculty contracts not meeting the plans, and college-level progress toward meeting the plans. This is a new law establishing compensation targets and reporting procedures; it does not, in the provided text, create new crimes or change penalties. The provision is explicitly subject to legislative appropriation. The text does not define key terms (for example, “comparably qualified,” “part-time,” “adjunct,” or the formal identity/authority of the “college board”), and it does not specify enforcement mechanisms, consequences for noncompliance, or the amount or source of funding required.

If enacted, community and technical colleges would have to create and carry out plans to raise pay for part-time and adjunct faculty in stages so that by the 2030–31 academic year their pay reaches at least 85% of what "comparably qualified" full-time, tenured faculty earn, with intermediate targets of 75% in 2028–29 and 80% in 2029–30. Colleges would also need to gather and report progress and detailed data (including percentages of full‑time pay reached, race and ethnicity for contracts not meeting targets, affected departments, and college‑level progress) to the college board, which must transmit updates to the governor and higher education legislative committees by the specified deadlines. The people most affected are part‑time and adjunct faculty, who are likely to see higher pay if the legislature provides the money, and community colleges, which will face new administrative work to develop plans, calculate instructional equivalencies, and produce the reports. Because the requirement is explicitly subject to amounts appropriated, actual pay increases, timelines, and enforcement depend on future budget decisions; key terms (for example, who counts as "comparably qualified" or the formal identity of the "college board") and any penalties or oversight beyond reporting are not defined here, so implementation details and real outcomes remain uncertain.