2016 Supplemental Legislative Session, Day 5

The WA Constitution says that the Legislature will hold regular sessions every year, beginning on the second Monday of January. The Legislature operates on a biennial schedule, or a 2-year period. A new biennium begins every odd-numbered year and lasts for 105 calendar days. This is known as a long session, and it is when the Legislature passes the state budgets. A short session is held during even-numbered years for 60 days. Short “supplemental” sessions are used for making technical corrections to the previous year’s state budgets and any additional changes to state law.

This supplemental session, EWU has two main priorities:

• Tuition backfill: As a result of the new and more accurate enrollment calculation created under the Technical Tuition Workgroup, EWU asks for $1.3 million to backfill revenue decreases resulting from the College Affordability Program.
• Interdisciplinary science building: Eastern appreciates the investment of $4.8 million for the design of the interdisciplinary science center. We look forward to the 2017-2019 budget where we will request $75 million in build funds to break ground and complete the project.

This week, David spoke to these priorities before both the Senate Ways and Means Committee as well as House Appropriations. His testimony to the Senate can be found at TVW.

On Tuesday, the Council of Presidents, a coalition of all six public baccalaureate institutions, hosted a reception for legislators that was well attended by nearly all public university presidents, dozens of legislators, and other higher education stakeholders. Below is a picture of President Cullinan welcoming everyone to the event.

The rest of the week was spent meeting with legislators and collaborating with our colleagues.

Check back next week for a post on a “good little bill” we have been working on as well as updates from a couple of campus leaders visiting the capitol.