News
The state House and Senate released their proposed operating budgets on March 24, beginning five weeks of intense negotiations to eliminate a $12 billion shortfall and pass a final budget before adjourning on April 27. The proposed budgets have very different approaches on how to begin.
At this initial point, the Senate proposal is far preferable for Evergreen, but we can’t yet see the whole picture since only a part of the budget proposals are now in view. Bills to raise more revenue by increasing taxes and tightening loopholes are being debated and could make the proposed cuts smaller.
The House proposal (HB 1198) avoids a larger tuition increase, reductions to the Washington College Grant, and employee furlough days. But it avoids those actions by making deeper cuts in higher education generally and much deeper cuts in Evergreen specifically. All baccalaureate institutions would be cut 2%. Evergreen would be singled out for a deeper cut to bring our per-student appropriation to the average of Western Washington, Eastern Washington, and Central Washington universities. The House proposal also provides some funding for Evergreen for IT modernization and to improve student accessibility but phases out the Shelton Promise program.
The net effect of the current House proposal would be a 27% percent cut to Evergreen’s biennial operating budget. Clearly, a cut of that magnitude would have significant impacts on students, staff, faculty, and the future of the college.
The Senate budget (SB 5167) proposes a 1% across-the-board cut for higher education institutions. Behind that comparatively small reduction is a set of difficult choices. The Senate proposal authorizes a one-time 8% tuition increase while reducing the Washington College Grant significantly for some students. Half of Evergreen students rely on these grants. And although the proposal pays for negotiated compensation increases, it simultaneously assumes one unpaid furlough day per month for most employees over the next two years. The Senate proposal would provide funding for the Shelton Promise program, IT modernization, and student accessibility.
The effect of the current Senate proposal on the college’s budget would be a net increase over the biennium of 1.3%.
Dead Bills: Last week was the cut off for bills that did not make it out of their house of origin. Many good bills are dead. For example, SB 5402 would have expanded eligibility for the Washington College Grant the most important state scholarship available. HB 1557, would have guaranteed public college admission to every qualified student in the state and SB 5164, would have added more college counselors in Washington high schools. Maybe they will have a chance in 2026?
Tuition Increases: To make matters worse, a very bad bill for higher education (SB 5785) arrived on the scene March 7, penned by Senate Ways and Means Chair June Robinson (D-Everett). This bill allows public four-year colleges a one-time opportunity to raise tuition another 5% above the normal cap of 3.3% in the 2026-27 academic year. This means regents and trustees at the state’s universities and colleges could possibly raise tuition 8.3% for the 2026-27 academic year.
FYI…Put the tuition increases into context… For Evergreen students this bill means about $590 more in tuition per year on top of current in-state tuition $7,103. Plus, students must pay for other expenses: Student fees (mandatory), Room and Board, and Books and Supplies. See SB 5785 Fiscal Note, page 27.
Cut Scholarships: The Robinson bill also reduces the Washington College Grant scholarship, which now helps a family of four making $78,500 or less eligible for a full financial aid award, while families earning up to $120,500 may qualify for some level of financial aid. The bill eliminates all scholarship support for students/households earning 66-100% of the SMI (state median income). This means that about 17,500 students could lose some scholarship support. Under SB 5785, the levels would drop to giving full awards only to those at 25% of the SMI and partial up to 65% MFI. See SB 5785 Fiscal Note – Part II. Narrative Explanation, page 8.
Negative reaction and result of SB 5785: The bill has been swiftly and sharply criticized. Higher education advocates know that more revenue is needed, but the result of this bill would be more hardships for students and drop in enrollment.
Senator Robinson has indicated she will consider softening the college grant reductions in future versions of the bill. However, she has also made it clear that without new revenue options, there must be cuts in what the state spends on higher education.
Stay Tuned: A new state revenue forecast is expected by March 21. Maybe the forecast which will inform the last bits of work on the proposed operating budgets soon to emerge from the House and Senate budget leadership.
March 1, 2025—As we near the halfway point of the 2025 legislative session, the reality of the state’s massive budget shortfall is clear to policy makers. On February 27, Governor Bob Ferguson laid out more details on his proposals for cuts to state agencies and four-year public higher education.
PROPOSED CUTS For Evergreen: The governor is proposing a 3% cut in overall operating budgets for Evergreen and Washington’s other 4-year universities and colleges. (State agencies are expected to take a 6% cut.) Also, Governor Ferguson proposes state employees take one unpaid furlough day each month. Nevertheless, he wants to keep collective bargaining agreements reached in fall 2024, which would provide a 5% wage increase to represented workers over the next two years.
SAVED for Evergreen in Governor’s Budget: These priorities are still in the governor’s budget. They will encourage more students to attend Evergreen and keep our campus open with talented faculty.
- Funding for Evergreen’s Shelton Promise,
- IT modernization
- Collective bargaining agreements
BAD BILL DIES! Meanwhile, the policy and fiscal cutoff dates have come and gone, which means bills that did not pass out of their committees are essentially dead for this session. That means Senate Bill 5424 died and will not get a vote. That bill proposed to abolish Evergreen in 2026 in favor of a health-sciences branch campus of the University of Washington. On February 27, Evergreen leaders met with the sponsor of SB 5424, Senate Minority Leader John Braun (D-Centralia). They showed Evergreen’s growing enrollment numbers and strength in STEM studies. They also talked about the possibility of expanding health-sciences study at Evergreen while still leaving the core mission and vision of Evergreen intact.
NEXT STEPS to Final Budget: House and Senate leadership believe the $12 billion deficit can best be managed through a combination of new revenue (taxes) and budget cuts. The governor has so far declined to say whether he thinks new taxes are needed.
In conversations with state budget writers, new possibilities of increasing revenue for higher education have surfaced. This includes tuition increases and removing a cap on corporate contributions to the Workforce Education Investment Account, which funds the Washington Grant student scholarship program.
To say the least, Evergreen leaders have been busy over the past two weeks! Evergreen’s President Carmichael and Government Relations Director Sandy Kaiser made the case for Evergreen’s students, staff and faculty in meetings all over the Hill in Olympia. High on the meeting list were members of Governor Ferguson’s budget and policy staff and elected officials.
ARE THESE FOLKS REPRESENTING YOU IN OLYMPIA? Carmichael and Kaiser met with Senators and Representatives to talk about Evergreen….are they your elected officials? If so, let us know!
- Senate Higher Education Vice-Chair Drew Hansen (D-Bremerton)
- Senate Ways and Means Vice-Chair Derek Stanford (D-Bothell)
- Senator Adrian Cortes, (D-Battle Ground)
- Senator Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville)
- Steve Bergquist (D-Renton)
- Nicole Macri (D-Seattle) -- House Appropriations Vice-Chair
- Mari Leavitt (D-University Place)
- Travis Couture (R-Allyn) -- House Appropriations Ranking Member
March 20: The next state revenue forecast will be issued March 20. Soon after, the first fully formed budget proposals will emerge in the House and Senate budget committees. Stay tuned for your next Evergreen Advocates News Update!
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!
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.
JOIN US ON FEBRUARY 11, FOR EVERGREEN ADVOCATES LOBBY DAY.
Sign up by emailing us: [email protected]. We are in the process of scheduling meetings with legislators. They need to hear your voices!
January 15, 2025--When governor-elect Bob Ferguson and 147 Washington state lawmakers arrived in Olympia this week, they faced an operating budget deficit estimated at $12 billion. Demand for social services, education, health care and other publicly funded services is up, while tax receipts are down.
After the 2024 election, Democrats hold stronger majorities in the House and Senate. They say they will cut budgets, delay commitments, and raise taxes to build a balanced budget over the 105-day legislative session. Republicans say they would cut spending and slow the growth of state government.
In his last proposed biennial state budget released December 17, outgoing Governor Inslee recommended a modest addition to Evergreen’s operating budget to fund:
- Two years of the Shelton Promise program
- Student accessibility needs
- Faculty and staff compensation increases
(To see the Governor’s proposed budget, go here: https://ofm.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/budget/statebudget/highlights/budget2527/25-27_Budget_Highlights.pdf)
However, this is just a starting point for legislative budget writers. Some legislators see funding for the state’s public colleges and universities as a potential area for budget cuts. Others believe that the state’s workforce needs are critical and that it’s essential to maintain adequate funding for higher education.
In addition to budget wrangling, the Senate and House committees which focus on higher education and workforce development will be considering the expansion of eligibility for state scholarships, free tuition for the first two years of college, and how to align higher education more closely with the state’s workforce needs. We can also expect to see discussion on how to help college students meet basic needs around housing and food.
Most of the state’s operating budget comes from the state’s general fund, which includes revenue from taxes, licenses, fees and permits. However, public higher education also benefits from another special state account. The Workforce Education and Investment Account (WEIA), created by the Legislature in 2019, helps fund state investment in higher education through a business and occupancy tax on some of the highest-earning Washington businesses. This account supports the Washington Grant scholarship program and other programs at public four-year and community colleges around the state.
At Evergreen, WEIA is funding Shelton Promise, First-Year Experience student success programs, and new psychology offerings.
The legislative session began January 13, and governor-elect Ferguson was sworn in on January 15. Lawmakers now have until the end of April to figure out how to pay for services to Washingtonians and pass an operating budget bill. It will then land on the governor’s desk for a signature, a veto, or a partial veto. The current budget expires on June 30, 2025.
As the outlines of the state’s budget deficit appear more firmly in view, legislators gathered in Olympia from December 9 to 13 to convene committees and consider their top challenge for the 2025 session. Slowing state revenue growth, inflation, the end of federal COVID-era support and a rise in the number of Washingtonians needing services have created a $12 billion shortfall. How will the Legislature meet its obligation to pass a balanced biennial operating budget next year?
Against this backdrop, Evergreen President John Carmichael and Government Relations Director Sandy Kaiser have met with dozens of legislators over the last few months. Making the case for additional funds for compensation increases for faculty and staff, the Shelton Promise scholarship program, prison education and other priorities, John and Sandy have been reminding legislators about Evergreen’s enrollment growth, educational service to students and the strong impact of our alumni throughout the state.
John and Sandy have also been listening carefully to key budget writers such as Senator June Robinson (D-Everett) and Representative Steve Bergquist (D-Renton), who have made it clear that cuts to state agencies and higher education are under consideration. These lawmakers predict it will take a combination of cuts and new revenue for the state to be able to meet its targets.
Governor Inslee will issue his budget proposal next week, which will be an early indicator of where Washington’s majority party sees the budget discussion beginning in January. This will be Governor Inslee’s last budget, and it’s not clear if Governor-elect Ferguson will submit his own version.
Evergreen currently receives about 85 percent of its operating funds from the state. This is $83.77 million for the 2024-2025 biennium. The state’s total higher education operating budget for the biennium is $6.04 billion. Evergreen receives about 1.4 percent of that total.
For more details on the state budget, go here. For a look at a 2025 budget preview prepared by House Appropriations committee staff, download the PDF here.
The legislative session begins on January 13, 2025.