The Governor’s office has announced she will sign the 2009 operating budget Tuesday afternoon.  That is the final day of the 20 day period she has to sign bills after the legislature adjourns, and it brings to conclusion the most difficult legislative session, at least from a budget perspective, in three decades.  The previous day… Read More

Governor Gregoire has issued an executive order creating a Council on Aerospace and UW President Mark Emmert has been named one of the Council members.  The Council has been directed by the Governor to: Coordinate and organize the worker-training programs at Washington’s community and technical colleges; Coordinate the research and development programs at the research… Read More

Two more bills of interest are scheduled for action on Tuesday and Wednesday.  SB 5172, scheduled for Tuesday, would create a Center for Human Rights at the UW.  According to the official bill report: The mission of the center is to expand opportunities for Washington residents to receive a world-class education in human rights, generate… Read More

Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) plan has announced the price for a unit will be $101 (up from last year’s $76).  The state guarantees that 100 units will purchase one year of tuition and state-mandated fees at the UW or WSU.  Sunday’s SeattlePI.com had a good story previewing the reasons behind the increase and the… Read More

Several papers this morning featured an Associated Press article on what it could cost to implement the school reform bill passed by lawmakers this year.  According to the article: While state lawmakers were debating plans to reform the state’s education system, no one wanted to talk about how much the changes would cost and where the… Read More

The Governor’s bill action schedule for Thursday has two more bills of interest to the UW.  One is our request bill (HB 1640) which protects private investment information submitted to our endowment.  The other is HB 1946 which charters a workgroup and sets a policy direction toward common online learning technologies at four-year schools and… Read More

Now that the session has ended, the Governor has begun the bill signing process; two bills of importance to the UW were signed into law today.  HB 2328 makes significant improvements in the “belt-tightening” bill passed early in session.  SB 5925 allows universities to require students in study-abroad programs to purchase health insurance as a… Read More

While most of the focus the last few weeks was on the budget, lawmakers passed a number of bills that affect the UW such as ensuring students studying abroad have health insurance, extending tuition-setting authority for graduate and out-of-state student, and restructuring student financial aid.  You can download a list of the most important bills… Read More