State Relations
February 23, 2007
Debt Authority Bill Passes House
HB 1398 which is the UW’s request legislation to expand our local borrowing authority passed the full House of Representatives this morning 93-1 which four members excused. The House bill will now be referred to the Senate for consideration. SB 5384, which is the Senate companion measure should be acted on by the full Senate
Concerns Raised About Global Challenge States
Much of my time this past week has been spent meeting with various legislators on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education to help them better understand the policy rationale for the Washington Learns recommendations to use what are called Global Challenge States for higher education funding benchmarks. For many years, per student funding for the UW
Higher Ed Day A Grand Success
Last Tuesday, February 20, alumni from all six of Washington’s baccalaureate institutions along with their Presidents and governing boards met in Olympia for the 2007 Higher Education Day and the timing could not have been better. The planning for this year’s event was very strategic and focused on bringing a united voice of support for
February 16, 2007
Taking Stock After a Long Week
As you can tell from the dearth of blog postings, this has been the most intense week of session yet. Between individual appointments with legislators to lobby our operating and capital budget proposals and a head spinning number of committee hearings on bills that both please and concern the University, I have hardly had much
Senate Fiscal Staff Develops Strong Higher Ed Presentation
At a meeting of the Senate Ways and Means Committee on January 25, committee staff person Tim Yowell gave a presentation on higher education budget issues that has been getting rave reviews from legislators, staff and the broader higher education community. Here’s a link to Tim’s presentation from the committee webpage. Even for the casual
UW Students Descend on Olympia
Yesterday was UW student lobby day in Olympia and more than 100 students dressed in colorful purple shirts were a visible presence in the state capitol for much of the day. As I waited to testify on one of the Governor’s primary Washington Learns bills in the Senate Higher Education Committee, the room slowly filled
February 14, 2007
Light Blogging Ahead
The crunch of committee hearings has arrived and given the volume of legislation our office is managing presently, posting blog entries will have to take a back seat to more pressing issues for the next few days. Thanks for understanding and we’ll try to get back to you by the end of the week.
February 11, 2007
Parttime Community College Faculty Issue Affecting UW
Today’s Seattle Times has an interesting story written by Nick Perry that chronicles the difficulties of some parttime community college faculty to establish successful careers due to their inability to gain full-time status. This has been a perennial issue in Olympia and one with no easy solution as the story indicates. Two bills which attempt
February 8, 2007
Debt Authority Bills Clear Initial Hurdle
Both the House and Senate versions of the University’s legislation to expand local borrowing authority passed their respective fiscal committees this week and are headed to the full chambers of the House and Senate for eventual floor action. HB 1398 (Fromhold) easily cleared the House Capital Budget Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 21-1. Rep. Jamie Pederson
February 6, 2007
House Committee Scuttles Campus Briefing
Nothing like a real “grab you” headline, right? As you have surmised, my planned campus legislative briefing for 10:30 a.m. this morning was sidetracked by the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee which decided yesterday to schedule executive action on HB 1506 at their 10:00 a.m. meeting this morning. This measure reauthorizes the University’s ability to use what
