Today is the official midpoint of the 2008 legislative session. Considering the collective dread that everyone in town is viewing this Friday’s general fund revenue forecast update, in hindsight, this might also be the highpoint of the 2008 legislative session. But more on that at a later time.
This afternoon, the UW’s request legislation (SB 6848) that would provide for public financing of half of the cost of renovating Husky Stadium passed the Senate Ways and Means committee. The measure, sponsored by committee chair Sen. Margarita Prentice (D-Renton) was heard in public hearing on February 5. It now goes to the Senate Rules committee where it would be eligible for potential action on the Senate floor.
Yesterday, Rep. Hans Dunshee’s bill (HB 2548) to establish a UW branch campus in Everett passed the House Appropriations committee and has now been sent to the House Rules committee. The fate of the Senate companion measure (SB 6391) sponsored by Sen. Paull Shin is unclear. Today, the Senate Ways and Means committee took public testimony on this bill and two others (SB 6352 and SB 6490) which favor locations in Marysville/Smokey Point and Lake Stevens respectively. As of 5:00 p.m. this evening, the committee had not taken action on any of the bills.
House and Senate bills (HB 3329 and SB 6903) which would abolish the existing Council of Presidents four year capital prioritization process and replace it with a new process managed by the Office of Financial Management cleared the House Capital Budget and Senate Ways and Means committees this afternoon. The Senate passed a substitute version of the bill that addresses the concerns raised by the Council of Presidents relating to separate submittals for research university branch campuses and participation in the capital financing study. The House also passed a substitute version but a copy is not yet available on on-line for review.
More on these and other bills of interest and plenty of discussion about UW budget items and possible budget release dates at the next campus legislative briefing this coming Friday.