April 11, 2013
“Today’s House budget proposal lacks significant, new state investment in public higher education. Washington ranks second to last in the nation — 49th — in higher education funding per student, with 25,000 jobs in high demand industries awaiting graduates we do not have the funding to educate. If we are to compete in the 21st… Read More
April 3, 2013
“Today’s Senate Majority Coalition Caucus budget proposal comes up woefully short for the UW and higher education. Of the $100 million in ‘new’ funding for higher education, the majority is derived from a 20 percent tax on our international students that we believe will price students out of their education and result in a loss of high-quality talent… Read More
April 1, 2013
State Representative Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) explains how the legislative budget process works in this white board video from the Washington House Democrats:
March 20, 2013
Today (March 20) the Revenue Forecast was released. The forecast is prepared by the state’s nonpartisan Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, and used by both the executive and legislative branches in budget preparation. Budget writers in the House and Senate can now finish up their respective proposals, as the overall picture moves into focus. For more detail,… Read More
March 14, 2013
Yesterday (March 13) was the “floor cutoff” in the State Legislature. Bills that didn’t make it out of their chamber of origin are now considered “dead.” Of course, bills can still be revived in Olympia-speak if they are “NTIB,” which means “necessary to implement the budget.” TVW has a brief summary of several high-profile bills that… Read More
February 28, 2013
Via the Associated Press: A divided high court ruled 6-3 Thursday that an initiative requiring a two-thirds vote was in conflict with the state Constitution. And that lawmakers and the people of Washington would need to pass a constitutional amendment to change from a simple majority to a supermajority. AP News – WA Supreme Courtstrikes… Read More
January 18, 2013
On Monday, members of the House & Senate took their oaths of office. In the State Senate, as was expected, the Majority Coalition Caucus took control after a brief floor fight. And we’ve got a leadership structure. The state Senate votes 25-23 to adopt proposal of 23R/2D Majority Coalition Caucus. #waleg — Brian M. Rosenthal… Read More
January 10, 2013
With the start of the 105-day legislative session set to kick off next Monday, Jan. 14, the Associated Press held its annual forum featuring state legislators and decision-makers in Olympia today. The big topics? Finding additional funding for basic education, the committee structure and leadership of the State Senate, and addressing the estimated $1 billion… Read More
January 8, 2013
President Young today joined with presidents of the state’s other public four-year universities in asking the Legislature to bolster sagging state investment. In exchange for a $225 million reinvestment in the 2013-15 operating budget, the universities offered to hold resident undergraduate tuition at current rates for the next two years. Responding to the proposal in… Read More
December 28, 2012
Power sharing talks continue in the State Senate, via The Olympian: Lt. Gov. Owen to start peace talks in Wash. Senate Friday morning: power sharing at issue – The Politics Blog – theolympian.com/2012/12/27/236… — Brad Shannon (@BradShannon2) December 27, 2012 The situation in the State Senate also attracted the attention of The New York Times… Read More
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