Telling Evergreen Stories

EVERGREEN ADVOCATES LOBBY DAY – February 11, 2025

Twelve members of  Evergreen Advocates fanned out across the Capitol Campus to visit lawmakers and share their positive Evergreen stories. Teams visited 13 legislators or their staff with our message:   1) NO BUDGET CUTS for Evergreen or Higher Education and 2) support funding for the Shelton Promise Pilot Program.  We made headway, meeting with some new legislators.   The highlight of the alumni lobby day was a visit to Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck, an Evergreen alum who urged us to continue and strengthen Evergreen’s advocacy on “The Hill.”

This lobby effort came one day after Evergreen student trustee Joshua Coetzee testified in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on his transformative educational experience at the Olympia campus. You can see his inspiring testimony at about 4:40 into this recording.

With only days to go before the policy cut-off, legislators are making tough decisions on which bills will proceed to fiscal committees after February 21.

Bad Bills NOT helping Evergreen: SB 5424, would abolish Evergreen and replace it with a branch health-sciences campus of the University of Washington. This bill is not scheduled for hearing in the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development committee before the cut-off. So it effectively kills the bill, which was sponsored by Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia), the Senate minority leader. But we will watch for budget proviso that may impact or change Evergreen. Stay tuned!

Good Bills helping Evergreen:  The Senate and House higher education committees heard public testimony on expanding eligibility for the Washington College Grant (SB 5402), the most important state scholarship available. Other good bills would guarantee public college admission to every qualified student in the state (HB 1557);  increase services to students who have experienced sexual assault (SB 5355); and add more college counselors at high schools (SB 5164).  All of these bills all have strong support. We’ll see if they make it through the cut-off date February 21.

But will these good bills pass fiscal scrutiny? The big question is whether the budget deficit, now reported to be more than $12 billion, will permit any additional spending. Legislators are quietly eyeing a combination of increased revenue and cuts to the budgets of state agencies (including four-year public colleges) to bridge the budget gap.  How deep those cuts might go is certainly top of mind for budget writers and public institutions such as Evergreen.

As the Legislature grapples with the budget challenge, Evergreen students and alumni are making their own independent case for why public higher education and especially Evergreen should be spared. In public testimony and in visits to key legislators, they have been telling Evergreen’s story of powerful, interconnected learning that prepares students to succeed at every level in careers, vocations and in problem-solving.  Being an Evergreen Advocate already has proven worthwhile because we are meeting in person with Legislators and their Staff.  Join us online now and in person next year!