MANY BILLS, ONE BUDGET TO RULE THEM ALL

                        JOIN US FOR EVERGREEN ADVOCATES LOBBY DAY FEB 11

January 30, 2025—As a hard winter chill sets in around the Capitol Campus, legislators are glumly considering how to maintain services to citizens, including higher education, while wrestling with a $12 billion gap in the operating budget. There is no shortage of good ideas, but most of them cost a lot of money.

And there are some bad ideas, which also cost a lot of money. On January 21, Senator John Braun (R-Centralia), the minority leader in the Senate, introduced SB 5424, which would close Evergreen and make the Olympia campus a health-sciences branch of the University of Washington.

There are currently no plans to hear this bill in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee. The bill, which would come with a staggering cost, was not requested or initiated by Evergreen nor the University of Washington, which already operates branch campuses in Bothell and Tacoma.  To move forward in the legislative process, the bill would have to be heard and passed out of committee by February 21.

Bills that will expand the Guaranteed Admissions college program for all high-school students in the state, add financial aid outreach specialists, and expand eligibility for state financial aid are among many higher education bills being reviewed carefully in committees.

While it’s the Legislature which will determine Evergreen’s operating budget, Governor Ferguson has views, too. All state agencies and higher education institutions received a letter on January 24 from the governor’s Office of Financial Management, asking how they plan to take future cuts of 6 percent for state agencies and 3 percent for public four-year colleges and universities. Community colleges and K-12 schools are exempt. Governor Ferguson has not yet released his own budget, so lawmakers are using former Governor Inslee’s budget in their discussions.

Evergreen President John Carmichael and Government Relations Director Sandy Kaiser are making sure legislators are aware of the college’s incredible service to students and their impact on Washington’s economy and quality of life.  Evergreen’s Geoduck Student Union representative advocates with the Washington Students Association, and Evergreen faculty members are active with the Council of Faculty, a statewide organization.

And more help is on the way! On January 30, Evergreen trustee Karen Fraser and student trustee Joshua Coetzee (along with Speedy the Geoduck!) will be part of a large group from across the state who will converge on the Legislature to promote higher education in meetings with lawmakers.