On Monday, Feb. 9, the legislature passed another major milestone, the house-of-origin fiscal committee cutoff. Bills that advanced out of the fiscal committees were referred to each chamber’s Rules Committees, which decide if a bill may be considered on the floor for a vote. Bills that made it to this stage of the legislative process must pass their house of origin by the next cutoff on Tuesday, Feb. 17 or they will be considered dead unless they are necessary to implement the budget (NTIB).
The state relations team is actively monitoring and engaging on legislation that could impact the University of Washington.
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, UW President Jones made his second visit to Olympia to connect with leadership from both parties in the House of Representatives and the Senate. President Jones reiterated the importance of sustained funding for UW’s core operations, and emphasized that any more cuts to UW’s budget will negatively affect student services and the ability to provide quality education for Washingtonians.
President Jones also spoke to a large group of UW students during their Huskies on the Hill lobby day where he thanked them for their advocacy and reaffirmed the importance of the student voice in Olympia. He ended the day with a reception co-hosted by Boeing and UW to celebrate the century-long partnership between the two institutions.
Questions?
For questions about specific policy proposals or UW’s advocacy efforts in Olympia, please contact Morgan Hickel at mhickel@uw.edu and Kevin Chang at kchang28@uw.edu.