News & Updates

Yesterday, Governor Gregoire and key state legislative leaders met with state capital reporters at the annual Associated Press “pre-session” forum in Olympia.  The 105-day session begins next Monday January 8, and most of the discussion at yesterday’s gathering focused on writing the $30 billion biennial operating budget.

Democratic leaders Rep. Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) and Sen. Lisa Brown (D-Spokane) predicted passage of a strong budget that invests in schools, health care, Puget Sound clean-up, economic development, anti-crime efforts and salary increases for teachers and state employees.  Governor Gregoire emphasized the importance of seizing the moment and investing in education at all levels.

Republican leaders Sen. Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) and Rep. Richard DeBolt (R-Chehalis) expressed concerns about the Governor’s spending levels and that her budget would leave the state with huge deficits in future years.  They both pledged to work with Democrats on key issues where common ground can be found.

Possible state funding for a new Sonics arena and a NASCAR track in Kitsap County were discussed but legislative leaders expressed little enthusiasm for public subsidies for eithr projects at this time.

Happy New Year to all Capitol Update blog readers.  It’s cold, wet and rainy in Olympia today which can mean only one thing — the legislative session is just around the corner.

Here’s an interesting story from David Ammons of the Associated Press and the dean of Olympia political reporters that stems from a new ranking from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University which pegs Washington State as No. 3 in the country for the percentage of women in the state Legislature.

I will be away from the State Relations Blog for several days over the holidays.  Have a wonderful holiday season and we’ll see you after the New Year.

Senate Republicans announced their 2007 committee assignments on Thursday December 21 according to a press release issued by Republican leader Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla).

Joining four Senate Democrats (Sen. Paull Shin, Chair, Sen. Derek Kilmer, Vice Chair, Sen. Jean Berkey and Sen. Tim Sheldon) on the new Senate Higher Education Committee will be Sen. Jerome Delvin (R-Richland) and Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville).  Although ranking members for each committee have not yet been selected, it is expected that Sen. Joe Zarelli (R-Ridgefield) will retain his ranking member status for the operating budget on the Senate Ways and Means Committee and that Sen. Dale Brandland (R-Bellingham) will continue as ranking member for the capital budget.

Governor Gregoire recently tapped Joyce Turner to replace Fred Olsen as her deputy chief of staff.  Olsen, who has been with Gregoire since her says as Director of Ecology under the Gardner administration is retiring.

Here’s more on the staff change from Adam Wilson, who writes a blog for The Olympian.

Governor Gregoire released her nearly $30 billion budget Tuesday December 19, and it is very strong for higher education and particularly the University of Washington. It is clearly the best budget for the UW to emerge from the Governor’s Office in a decade and if enacted would be an exceptional start to closing the per student funding gap between us and our peer universities.

At yesterday’s press conference in Olympia, the Governor repeatedly referred to her spending plan as an “Education Budget” and a close look at the details easily backs up that claim.  There are sizeable new investments in early learning, K-12 and higher education in the operating budget and almost $2 billion in new capital spending including more than $1 billion for higher education construction projects. 

A two page summary of the Governor’s Budget proposal for the UW can be found in the Spotlight section of the State Relations home page.

If you want more detail on her overall spending plan, the Governor’s Budget Highlights are a good place to delve into the details.

Welcome to the new Office of State Relations Blog.  I intend to use this exciting new technology to communicate with you in a more timely and frequent manner about state government news and information, and to report on the University’s progress in achieving our goals and objectives during the upcoming 2007 legislative session.

A blog allows me to provide important information as it is happening rather than waiting until the end of the week or the month to publish in a traditional newsletter format.  If you are interested in how University interests are fairing in Olympia, check this blog frequently to stay abreast of key legislative hearings, bill progress, staff changes and budget updates. 

It is my intent to use this blog as my primary campus communications tool, so as of the first of the year, my office will cease on-line publication of the weekly and monthly “Capitol Updates.”  I will continue to maintain and update weekly, a list of “Bills of Significant Interest” to the University during the legislative session.  As my schedule permits, I will also try to make it back to campus at least twice a month for in person legislative briefings.

Thanks again for all you do to help support me and my team during the legislative session.  I’m excited about using this communications medium and hope you will provide me with feedback as I develop and perfect my “blogging” skills.  Thanks.

At a press conference in Spokane this morning (which was attended by President Mark Emmert and other UW officials), Governor Christine Gregoire unveiled some significant portions of her higher education budget recommendations for the 2007-09 biennium.  The full budget proposal will be released on Tuesday December 19.

Speaking at the Washington State University – Spokane campus at Riverpoint, the Governor indicated she would include funding in her operating and capital budget proposals for the UW/WSU/EWU partnership to expand medical and dental education in Spokane and Eastern Washington.  Known as “Spokane WWAMI/RIDE,” the program will add 20 new medical students and 8 new dental students to the UW through a dedicated site in Spokane.

The WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program has been a great success in training doctors to serve in rural communities.  The RIDE (Regional Initiatives in Dental Education) is based on that model and will train dentists to help address the need for more qualified dentists in rural areas of the state.

The press release issued by the Governor’s office also described other aspects of the Governor’s higher education budget which will include:

• Freezing tuition at community and technical colleges for the next two years and capping undergraduate tuition at 5% for the regional schools and 7% for the UW and WSU.
• Providing new “high demand” enrollment slots and regional opportunity grants for job training.
• Expanding the WSU Spokane Intercollegiate College of Nursing.

Washington State University (WSU) announced this morning the selection of Elson S. Floyd as the tenth president of WSU.  Floyd, who is currently president of the University of Missouri will succeed V. Lane Rawlins, who announced earlier this year that he would step down at president at the end of the current academic year.

Floyd has served as president of the University Missouri since November 2002.  Prior to that he served as president of Western Michigan University and has held several administrative positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  From 1993 to 1995, he was the executive director of the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Here’s a story on Floyd from The Seattle Times.

With the recent reorganization of the Senate and House of Representatives, a number of changes have been made that will affect staffing for higher education.

The creation of a separate Higher Education committee in the Senate, chaired by Sen. Paull Shin (D-Edmonds), has resulted in some committee staff assignment changes.  Susan Mielke, who had served as coordinator for the combined Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee will be assigned as coordinator for the new Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee to be chaired by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe (D-Bothell).  Longtime Senate Judiciary committee counsel Aldo Melchiori has been selected to be the new lead staff person for the Higher Education Committee.

In the Senate Democratic Caucus, higher education policy counsel Heather Lewis-Lechner will relinquish her higher education responsibilities to focus on early learning, K-12 and government operations.  Her higher education staff replacement will be Mark Rosen who has previously served as caucus policy counsel for judiciary, government operations and elections.