It’s only the end of week two, but the pace on the hill feels more like the end of session. Rich Roesler, who writes the excellent “Eye on Olympia Blog” for the Spokesman Review, posted a picture of his desk. It sums the situation up pretty well.
Today, UW faculty presented information on climate change to the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee and administrative representatives briefed the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on enrollment trends.
Next week will see a full slate of important hearings. The House Higher Education Committee will take up high demand enrollments (Tuesday), financial aid (Wednesday) and strategic expansion of higher education (Friday). In the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee the agenda includes financial aid (Tuesday) and tuition policy (Wednesday). House Ways and Means also plans a Wednesday briefing on higher education funding.
The focus won’t all be on the budget and financial matters next week. On Tuesday the Senate Economic Development, Trade and Innovation Committee will look at international programs offered by our public universities. The Senate Early Learning and K-12 education committee plans a Thursday hearing on early learning, including a briefing by the UW’s Institute for Learning and Brain Science (I-Labs).
We also continue to work on the spending freeze bill proposed yesterday, encouraging lawmakers to add needed flexibility.
Now to continue the search for the surface of my desk.