On Monday, the Washington State Legislature convened in Olympia for the start of its 105-day Regular session. The legislative cycle is a two year process. In odd-numbered years, the Regular session is 105 days. In the even-numbered years, the Regular session it is 60 days. For more overview on Washington’s legislative process, read this primer from the Legislature.
On the first day of session, UW Director of State Relations Genesee Adkins testified on the Governor’s proposed budget before a Work Session in the House Appropriations Committee. View her testimony here. For more analysis of the Governor’s budget, you can read the Office of Planning & Budgeting’s brief here.
On Tuesday, Council of Presidents Executive Director Paul Francis appeared before the House Higher Education Committee to give an overview of the four-year public baccalaureate sector. Among the highlights was a mention of UW’s recently released Economic Impact Report, showing that the University has an annual $12.5 billion impact on the state economy. View Francis’ presentation here. Presentations from our other higher education partners before the committee are available here, video of the full work session here.
Also on Tuesday, Governor Jay Inslee gave his annual State of the State address. You can read the text and watch the Governor’s address on TVW here. The Republican Response was given by Rep. Norma Smith. You can read the text here, and watch the video on TVW.
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