News & Updates

The University’s request legislation to expand our local borrowing authority (HB 1398 and SB 5394) received public hearings this week in the House Capital Budget Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee respectively.

State Treasurer Mike Murphy appeared in person at both hearings to support the proposed legislation, praising the University’s debt management capabilities and overall superb track record of financial management.  University staff including Harlan Patterson from the Provost’s office and Doug Breckel and Chris Malins from the Treasury Office presented the bill at both forums.  Both Washington State University and the Governor’s Office of Financial Management signed in supporting the bill.

The House Capital Budget Committee is expected to take action on the bill tomorrow and send it to the full House for consideration.  Senate Ways and Means Committee action is expected sometime next week.

Week four is here and the number of bills affecting higher education has shifted into a faster gear.

A lot of my office’s energy during the next several weeks will be employed analyzing and testifying on various pieces of legislation, and working to perfect some “problem” bills through the amendment process.

To help you keep track of the most significant bills affecting the University of Washington, keep checking back periodically to the State Relations website to check the link for “Bills of Significant Interest.”  Important information on the status of each bill along with the University’s position will be updated every few days during the legislative session.

If you spot errors or corrections, please let me know so we can make the necessary changes.  If there are other bills that you think should be added to the list, please contact me by email and we can discuss whether or not to add it to this list.

This has been a busy week for higher education in Olympia and one where the UW has been a highly visible presence in the state capitol.

President Mark Emmert has been in town twice; once on Tuesday for meetings with the Governor, key legislative leaders and other higher education presidents, and again this afternoon before a meeting of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee.  Several UW faculty members have also appeared this week to testify on issues ranging from global warming to autism.

At last night’s meeting of the House Approprations Subcommittee on Education, Jim Rawlins from the Office of Admissions and Emile Pitre from the Office of Minority Affairs gave a well-received presentation to legislators on UW achievements in outreach and retention programs.  At this morning’s House Higher Education Committee hearing, Harlan Patterson from the Provost’s office will make a presentation on research university governance.

Our student representatives have also been extremely active, both in individual meetings with legislators and testifying on a variety of higher education measures.  Monday’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer featured an excellent story on student lobbyists, including our GPSS rep Marcus Riccelli and ASUW rep Bryce McKibbon.

Many of you may think that a UW lobbyist gets by on just a pretty face and a clever wit — but you would be wrong.  It also helps to have some working knowledge of the political process.

While the last time I sat in a UW political science class the number one show on television was The Waltons, I believe I have managed to accumulate enough knowledge since then to be considered a “pundit” of some reknown.  So, it was exciting to see that in this week’s Seattle Times “State of the Union Trivia Contest” your intrepid Director of State Relations managed to finish tied for second place out of 1,200 entries.

Don’t believe me?  Here are the official results.  No word yet from the Blethen family regarding the bevy of prizes I am sure to be showered with.  Here is the official story on the contest results from David Postman, the Times chief political reporter.

Hearings on a variety of higher education bills and work sessions on higher education before Senate and House fiscal committees headline a busy third week of session for the UW.

Today, both the Senate and House Higher Education committees will hold public hearings on legislation covering such topics as tuition waivers for the children and spouses of fallen or injured veterans and a new scholarship program to help foster care children attend college.

On Tuesday, President Mark Emmert will be in Olympia all day for a regular meeting of the Council of Presidents, including a meeting with Governor Gregoire.  The President will also hold several one-on-one meetings with legislative leaders and meet with The Olympian’s editorial board.  Tuesday is also Washington BioScience Day in Olympia, an event coordinated by the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.

On Wednesday the House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on financial aid programs and hear a presentation on the recently enacted “Husky Promise.”  That evening, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education will hold a work session on higher education which will include an overview of Washington Learns as well as a presentation by the UW on outreach and retention programs.

On Thursday, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for recently appointed UW Regent Kristianne Blake.  The House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on governance which will include a presentation by the UW on our Board of Regents.  The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a work session in the afternoon on higher education which will feature panel presentations by student leaders and faculty representatives as well as a panel of higher education presidents including the UW’s Mark Emmert, Karen Morse from Western Washington University and Les Purce from The Evergreen State College.

A lot of what happens in Olympia during the first few weeks of session isn’t really all that glamorous.  Lots of meetings, committee hearings and endless walking between buildings in the rain (and snow) often leads to a familiar monotony.  You nod to legislators, staff and other lobbyists as you rush from one place to another in constant search of a warm, dry spot to make your cell phone call.

That’s why it’s always a nice break from the regular routine to have some high drama play out right in front of your eyes.  This week’s debate over the Alaskan Way Viaduct truly had the town buzzing because it is so rare to see such hard-lined positions materialize this early in the session.  Everyone is speculating about the “end game” and that keeps the hallway and cafeteria conversations lively and more interesting than the fortunes of our men’s basketball team (which I am forced to defend on a daily basis).

Similarly, yesterday’s appearance by Seattle Supersonic’s Vice President Lenny Wilkins at a hearing of the Senate Ways and Means Committee only served to prove that grown men and women are really little children at heart.   Staffers and lobbyists with little affiliation with the Sonics request for state assistance for a new arena could be seen popping in and out of Senate Hearing Room 4 straining to catch a glimpse of the legendary coach and player.  Yes, even I managed to sneak a peek.

By next week it will be back to the usual routine and usual conversation as the snow has melted and a familiar drizzling rain has settled in over the Olympia skies.  But today, we can have fun speculating endlessly over a tunnel, elevated structure, or nothing at all and whether the Sonics arena will be in Renton or Bellevue, or maybe even Oklahoma City.

Yesterday, Senator Jean Berkey (D-Everett) introduced a bill (SB 5322) which would require the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to help with the initial development of an independent, four-year higher education institution in the Snohomish-Island-Skagit county region with a polytechnic orientation.  The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Shin, Haugen, Schoesler, Hobbs, Kilmer and Marr.

Reaction to the bill among some House members was mixed.  Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) and Rep. Mike Sells (D-Everett) feel the legislation could be premature and foreclose other options for meeting higher education needs in the region.  In response to a written request from Rep. Dunshee and other legislators, the UW last month prepared and submitted a conceptual proposal for a “two-plus-two” program which could be established in the area to produce baccalaureate degrees with a polytechnic focus.

The House Capital Budget Committee will hold a panel discussion in their committee meeting tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. on this issue.  Participants include Marziah Kiehn-Sanford from the Higher Education Coordinating Board, Everett Mayor Ray Stephenson, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon, Everett Community College President David Beyer, UW State Relations Director Randy Hodgins and Crystal Donner from Perteet Engineering.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a holiday for some but a regular workday for the 60th legislature and the beginning of week two of the 2007 legislative session.

At 1:30 p.m. today in the Senate Higher Education Committee, UW President Mark Emmert is scheduled to appear to discuss the findings of our “Meeting the Global Challenge” report which was published in November 2006.  The Washington Student Lobby and Washington State University are also scheduled to appear.

The House Higher Education Committee has scheduled a work session at the same time on “Higher Education Articulation, Transitions, and Transferability.”  The HECB and SBCTC are scheduled to make presentations.

On Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., the House Capital Budget Committee will begin hearing presentations on higher education capital budget requests.  The regional institutions are scheduled to make 20 to 30 minute presentations.

On Wednesday at 8:00 a.m., the Senate Higher Education Committee will hear presentations from the leaders of the state’s regional four year institutions.  At the same time, the House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on “Entrance Standards, Testing, and Remediation.”

On Thursday at 8:00 a.m., the House Capital Committee will hear a presentation on capital budget requests from the UW and WSU.  In addition, the committee will hold a panel discussion on the recently completed HECB study on higher education needs in the North Snohomish, Island and Skagit county region.

At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, the House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on “Accountability” in higher education.  At the same time, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hear presentations from the Prosperity Partnership, the Washington Business Roundtable, the Technology Alliance and the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.

Sen. Karen Fraser (D-Olympia), Vice Chair for Capital on the Senate Ways and Means Committee and Rep. Bill Fromhold (D-Vancouver) Chair of the House Capital Budget Committee have agreed to sponsor the UW’s local debt authority bills in their respective chambers.

The legislation would expand the UW and WSU’s ability to issue bonds or other forms of debt for any university purpose to be paid by all locally retained fees and revenues.  If passed, the bill would permit the universities to act with speed when issuing debt and streamline our borrowing process, to reduce the overall cost of funds.  Long term financing of the recently purchased UW Tower would be another benefit of the legislation.

Other sponsors of the bill will be Sen. Paull Shin (D-Edmonds), Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee and Rep. Deb Wallace (D-Vancouver), Chair of the House Higher Education Committee.  Ranking Republican members on both the Senate and House capital and higher education committees are also expected to co-sponsor the legislation.

Governor Gregoire delivered her “State of the State” address to a packed chamber of legislators, statewide elected officials, Supreme Court justices, three former Governors and a myriad of other dignataries in Olympia this evening.  Among much pomp and circumstance, the Governor was greeted by several minutes of enthusiastic applause and cheers from the assembled Senators and Representatives as well as a packed throng in the upper gallerys.

As advertised, the address was centered around her major budget and policy priority for the 2007 session:  education.  A number of items important to the University of Washington were highlighted in her 45 minute address including funding for high demand enrollments; expansion of medical and dental education in Spokane; and funding to support global health.

She also touted her proposed Washington Learns tuition policy which would cap undergraduate tuition rates at 7% at the UW and WSU, at 5% at the regional institutions and freezing tuition rates at current levels for the community and technical colleges.  She also stressed the critical role the UW and WSU play in driving the state economy.