Welcome to the end of week six in the 2013 regular session.
Aside from being almost one-third of the way through the 105-day session, today (Feb. 22) has another important significance.
After today, policy bills that haven’t yet had a hearing in committee, will be singing the swan song. Sure, there are ways to resuscitate certain budget-related bills, but the curtain call for the majority of unheard bills will come today.
UW President Michael K. Young was in Olympia this week for meetings with legislative leaders in both the House and Senate.
Among other topics, the state budget and the need for reinvestment in public higher education were paramount.
The meetings come at a key time in Olympia, as this Friday (Feb. 22) is the cutoff date for hearing policy bills in committees.
Next Friday (March 1) is the cutoff for hearing bills in the House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means.
In the coming weeks, legislative members will spend more time on the floor, debating and voting on bills.
Check the Session Cutoff Calendar for more important dates, and for a refresher on the legislative process, read more about how a bill becomes a law.
University of Washington students showcased research on topics ranging from quantum chemistry to malaria at the State Capitol last week.
Legislators and staff dropped by the event held in 211 Cherberg to learn about the wide range of research being done by UW students.
View more photos on State Relations’ Facebook page.
PHOTOS: @UW Student Research Showcase at the Capitol today http://t.co/zvBCurFm #waleg cc: @UWFSAE @ASUWSeattle @UW_GPSS
— UW Government & Community Relations (@UWGOV) February 15, 2013
Yesterday, Gov. Jay Inslee released a Working Washington agenda, aimed at: “revitalizing Washington’s economy, creating jobs and ensuring we have workers with the knowledge and skills to fill those jobs.”
The Governor’s agenda includes a range of proposals in STEM education, targeted tax relief & regulatory reform, aerospace training, clean energy & climate, and health care.
In terms of Higher Education, the Governor spelled out two priority areas:
The Associated Press has an overview of the proposal, including reactions from state legislators. Read the Governor’s Office policy briefs here.
University of Washington students will be showcasing research on topics ranging from quantum chemistry to malaria at the State Capitol this week.
The event will be held from 11:30AM-1:00PM on Friday in Room 211 Cherberg Building, and is sponsored by the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate and the Associated Students of the University of Washington. RSVPs may be sent to gpssvp@uw.edu.
Legislators and staff are invited to attend and learn about the wide range of research being done by UW students.
Refreshments will be provided by the UW Office of State Relations. Photos will be posted on Facebook and Twitter. Stop by the blog for a wrap up Friday afternoon.
The big news this week is that UW alumna Sally Jewell, ’78, chief executive of REI and member of the UW Board of Regents, has been nominated by President Obama as the next Secretary of the Interior. President Obama made the announcement at the White House on Wednesday (Feb. 6):
At another news conference, this one on the UW campus the day before (Tuesday, Feb. 5), Acting Director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet announced that University of Washington is No. 1 again among large universities (more than 15,000 students) for alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps. More via UW News & Information:
The UW has ranked first five times, more than any other university. WWU and Gonzaga were each top-ranked for the first time. It’s the first time the top schools in all three categories are in the same state.
Continuing on the press conference circuit, Gov. Inslee weighed in at his weekly press availability in Olympia yesterday (Feb. 6) on a number of proposals before the State Legislature. Topics included workers’ compensation, green energy, Medicaid expansion and more. The News Tribune has more. Watch the exchange with local media on TVW:
[tvw query=”eventID=2013020084&start=&stop=” width=”550″ height=”320″]
Finally, student leaders of the UW’s Dream Project visited Olympia yesterday (Feb. 6) to meet with state legislators and discuss their efforts. The program partners UW students with first-generation and low-income students in Seattle area high schools to assist in the college admissions process.
The UW student mentors met with Rep. Larry Seaquist, Rep. Gael Tarleton, and presented before the House Higher Education committee.
.@UWDreamProject Student Mentors met with Rep. @larryseaquist to talk about the program and its impacts. #waleg pic.twitter.com/IQjlcG9q
— UW Government & Community Relations (@UWGOV) February 6, 2013
Watch the students’ presentation (PDF) via TVW:
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View more photos from the students’ visit to Olympia on State Relations’ Facebook page.
University of Washington Provost Ana Mari Cauce recently held a Town Hall on campus to discuss key issues and priorities for the current academic year. The event included lively conversation and timely questions from the live audience.
Below are several segments of interest concerning academic, administrative and state legislative issues.
Alumni groups from three of the state’s public four-year universities are launching outreach efforts in Olympia this week.
Through social media postings, the three alumni groups (UW Impact, WSU Impact, and Western Advocates) announced they are joining forces for an “Alumni Week of Action.”
Their message? Asking legislators to support state reinvestment in higher education in exchange for a two-year tuition freeze.
The alumni-driven efforts come on the heels of proposals introduced in both the State House and State Senate to address sagging state support of public higher education.
We reported last week on a proposal by Senate Democrats to address sagging state funding for public higher education. Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) introduced SB 5420, which would make a $225 million reinvestment in public higher education, and freeze tuition for two years.
Additional Democratic sponsors of the proposal are Senators Frockt, Murray, McAuliffe, Fraser, Ranker, Rolfes, Kline, Conway, and Chase.
On Friday, a bipartisan effort emerged in the state House led by Rep. Gerry Pollett (D-Seattle) with similar aims.
According to the Seattle Times:
HB 1624 aims to move Washington toward a 50-50 split between students and the state, with students paying half the cost of their education and the state paying the rest.
The House bill would also tie tuition increases to the inflation rate.
Rep. Pollett’s bill also has the support of House Higher Education Chair Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor), and the committee’s Ranking Republican Rep. Larry Haler (R-Richland).
Additional bipartisan sponsors of the bill include Representatives Walsh, Zeiger, Goodman, Farrell, Sells, Upthegrove, Fitzgibbon, Roberts,Kirby, Fey, Freeman, Ryu, and Magendanz
Crosscut.com has more on the House and Senate reinvestment proposals.
Both bills now await hearings before their chambers’ respective Higher Education committees.
Welcome to week three of the 2013 session of the Washington State Legislature. Here is what’s happening in Olympia today…
Gov. Jay Inslee announced three new Cabinet appointments today, via KOMONews.com:
Brigadier General Bret D. Daugherty was reappointed Tuesday to his position as Adjutant General of the state’s Military Department. Daugherty serves as commander of Washington’s Army and National Guard forces and oversees the state’s Emergency Management and enhanced 911 programs.
Brian Bonlender, who had served as Inslee’s chief of staff and legislative director while Inslee was in Congress, was named as director of the Department of Commerce.
Inslee named Dorothy Frost Teeter as director of the Health Care Authority, overseeing health care services for state employees and low-income residents. Teeter, who is a senior adviser at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in Maryland, will start in March.
Yesterday, KOMO profiled newly elected State Rep. Cyrus Habib (D):
Like every freshman representative, Habib is learning his way around the Capitol, getting acquainted with the many staircases and the shortcuts. But there is a twist in his learning curve.
“I lost my eyesight to a fairly rare form of childhood cancer, so I was totally blind by the time I was 8 years old,” said Habib, the first blind legislator in Washington state for perhaps a century.
He represents the technology-driven Eastside — including Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland, where he campaigned on a platform of funding higher education and growing small business — by door-knocking, personally walking up to seven thousand homes.
Earlier today, the House Higher Education committee met for a work session on financial aid and student debt (Full Agenda, Video via TVW). The committee also held a public hearing House Bill 1043, which would limit differential tuition.
UW’s Director of State Relations testified in opposition to the bill in its current form, because it takes away a tool for expanding access for students to high-demand programs, without providing an alternative.
This afternoon, the Senate Higher Education Committee held a Work Session titled, “What industry needs from our students and higher education institutions” (Agenda, Video via TVW).
Several of the firms presenting to the committee noted their close partnerships with UW, and ongoing recruitment of its graduates. These presenters included ZymoGenetics, Philips Health Care, and Socrata.
In other State Senate news, according to the Tri-City Herald, Benton County Commissioners voted last night to appoint Kennewick Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Brown to replace Jerome Delvin in the State Senate.
Finally, Senate Democrats called a 3:30PM press conference to spotlight a new Higher Ed proposal.
https://twitter.com/brianmrosenthal/status/296402979014193152
Their press release follows…