Seattle Times chief political reporter David Postman reports in his blog this morning that the State Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a challenge to Tim Eyman’s latest anti-tax initiative.  The court ruled against the Service Employees International Union and Futurewise who had argued that Initiative 960 should be kept off the November 2007 general election… Read More

After only a few weeks as a candidate, State Senator Rodney Tom (D-Medina) announced today that he is giving up his campaign for the 8th congressional district and throwing his support to former Microsoft employee Darcy Burner who unsuccessfully challenged incumbant Rep. Dave Reichert last November.  Tom, a former Republican House member who switched parties… Read More

Tell me if these higher education issues sound familiar? Lowest production of baccalaureate degrees in the nation at the same time it has the highest post-secondary education credentials in the country. Insufficient public funding for research. Mission creep among comprehensive institutions and two year schools. Lack of consistent accountability measures to assess higher education performance. Tuition… Read More

State Rep. Jim McIntire (D-Seattle) who represents the 46th district in Seattle and also teaches part-time at the University of Washington announced Tuesday that he will give up his seat to make a run for State Treasurer in 2008.  Three-term incumbant Mike Murphy has decided to retire when his term ends next year and McIntire is… Read More

Sen. Erik Poulsen (D-Seattle), the chairman of the Senate Water, Energy and Telecommunications Committee announced this afternoon that he will be resigning his seat in the Senate effective October 1st to become the government affairs director for the Washington Public Utility Districts Association. Poulsen, who’s district encompasses West Seattle, Burien and Vashon Island was first… Read More

The “dog days” of summer are upon us and the postings are indeed light.  I’ve been in B.C. the past couple of days meeting with some higher education officials from our neighbor to the north (more about that in the next posting), but I hope most of you saw the announcement this week about the… Read More

Been back from vacation for less than a week an already it seems like a distant memory.  Have been on the road much of this week visiting elected officials and other stakeholders in the Snohomish, Island and Skagit county areas discussing progress on planning for the new UW campus called for in the 2007-09 capital… Read More

I’m off for vacation so the blog is on hiatus.  I’ll be back in about ten days to resume posting.

Sometimes, the value of higher education research isn’t always apparent to the average legislator or their constituents.  A lot of research is hard to explain and potential benefits are speculative or often years away.  So, when I read this story yesterday in the Eugene Register-Guard, I thought it deserved a mention on the blog.  This… Read More

While most state legislatures have long since adjourned for 2007 and new fiscal year budgets are quietly chugging along, the California state legislature is still wrangling over the 2007-08 state budget which was supposed to have been enacted by June 30th.  Although Democrats have sizeable majorities in the legislature and agreed on a budget deal with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger several weeks… Read More