While this is the off year for state election campaigns, many local elected offices are open and two more state legislators have expressed an interest in running for a local seat. In Snohomish County, councilmember Kirke Sievers is required to leave office at the end of this year after serving three terms as the representative… Read More

Just learned this morning that former state senator Bob Oke passed away last night after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer.  Oke, a Republican, served in the state Senate from 1991 to 2006 and represented the 26th legislative district (Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and parts of Bremerton).  He was an… Read More

A front page story in this morning’s Olympian notes that state revenue collections have been $141 million “higher” than expected since the last revenue forecast update in March.  As the article indicates, the March forecast presumed that the weakening housing sector would be a significant drag on consumer spending and state revenue growth.  Strong aerospace and… Read More

At a ceremony yesterday morning at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Governor Gregoire signed a number of education bills, including most of the remaining higher education bills related to her Washington Learns initiative.  Specific measures enacted into state law include: E2SSB 5098 which establishes the College Bound Scholarship program for low income students identified… Read More

Washington State University’s (WSU) Board of Regents met this past Friday and announced that Elson Floyd will become WSU’s 10th president effective Monday May 21.  Floyd, who was most recently president of the University of Missouri, will succeed V. Lane Rawlins who is stepping down after serving as the school’s president since June 2000. Floyd previously served as executive… Read More

Seattle Times political reporter David Postman reports this morning in his blog that Rep. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) has annouced that he will run this fall for Snohomish County Sheriff.  Lovick should be familiar to many observers of the state legislature since he has served as House Speaker Pro-Tem (presiding officer) for the last several… Read More

The Spring 2007 issue of UW Law has a fascinating cover story on UW Law School alumni serving in the judiciary system, including a great cover shot and profile of the five Washington State Supreme Court justices who are UW law school alums.  This includes Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, Justice Richard Sanders, Justice Bobbe Bridge,… Read More

As I mentioned during last Thursday’s campus briefing on the 2007 legislative session, much of the University’s success this year was due to a very strong initial budget provided by Governor Gregoire last December.  But what factors lead to her proposing an operating and capital budget for the UW which was one of the best we have seen in… Read More

It’s day three of the 2007 legislative interim and it’s obvious from this past Monday that my golf game needs a lot of work.  What’s still looking very nice though is the UW’s state budget.  As the Governor and legislative leaders have toured the state visiting major newspaper editorial boards during the past few days,… Read More