http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations Randy Hodgins blogs from Olympia Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:55:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Meeting on the campus of UCLA today, the regents of the University of California system approved a tuition hike of 32% for resident undergraduates -- half of which will go into effect now and the other half next fall.  The rate hikes are in response to a 20 percent cut ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/california-tuition-rates-soar/ State general fund revenue collections are projected to drop another $760 million in the current biennium based on the new forecast of tax collections adopted by the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council in Olympia just minutes ago. According to the Office of Financial Management OFM), the projected budget deficit facing the ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/state-revenue-forecast-plunges-again/ Dear Colleagues: I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Margaret Shepherd as the University’s new Director of State Relations. Margaret has worked in Olympia for the past few years as the policy analyst on capital budget and transportation issues for the Washington State Senate Democratic Caucus. In this key ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/new-state-relations-director/ State Senator Fred Jarrett (D-Mercer Island) was chosen today as the new Deputy King County Executive by Dow Constantine who defeated Susan Hutchinson last week for the right to fill out the unexpired term of former county executive Ron Sims.  Here's the story from the Seattle Times. Jarrett, who made his ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/fred-jarrett-tapped-as-deputy-king-county-executive/ Exactly a week since the November 3 election and I'm now just getting around to discussing the state issues of importance but that's still the occupational hazard of holding down two jobs.  Things are moving forward with the  process of hiring a new Director of State Relations and I hope ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/belated-election-wrap-up/ I recently received a chart from the Council of President's (COP) office that kind of left me speechless. No matter how close you are to budget issues, etc. it's important every now and then to take a look at the bigger picture. The problem in this case, is that the bigger picture is pretty ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/was-it-something-we-said/ It's two weeks to election day, I've got way too many dead leaves on my lawn and it's cold at night. Must be the beginning of another budget season in Olympia. While the Governor's supplemental budget is not due until the middle of December, given the state's looming budget shortfall (estimate ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/budget-cuts-mach-6-0-no-easy-choices-left/ Rep. Reuven Carlyle has now posted two extremely thought provoking posts on his blog about the future of higher education in the state -- what's wrong, what needs to change, and how to make things better. Anyone who cares about higher education funding and our relationship with state government should ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/higher-education-thoughts-from-rep-carlyle/ The United Faculty of Washington which represents faculty at the four-year regional universities has recently debuted a new higher education blog. The most recent post discusses why Washington citizens are at a disadvantage in the competition for the state's best jobs. http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/new-higher-ed-blog-debuts/ Governor Gregoire has chosen a replacement for Cindy Zehnder who announced in August her plans to step down as chief of staff in the Governor's office.  Jay Manning, who has been serving as director of the Department of Ecology will replace Zehnder effective October 19. Manning has lead the Department of ... http://www.washington.edu/externalaffairs/staterelations/jay-manning-tapped-as-new-governors-chief-of-staff/