The House Higher Education Committee kicked off its interim road show Tuesday at WSU Spokane and is meeting today at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.
Under the dark cloud of additional budget reductions on the horizon, the committee is using its so-called Chautauqua Series to learn about how the various higher education sectors are meeting regional needs and exploring a series of educational attainment challenges.
In Spokane, the focus was on meeting the needs of the aerospace and health care industries while helping students transition through the higher education system. Today, the focus is on agriculture, renewable energy and access for underserved student populations.
But in light of last week’s revenue forecast, which fell by $1.4 billion through the end of the current two-year budget cycle, the budget problem looms large. And it was suggested yesterday that the portion of the state budget that could legally be cut has been reduced to somewhere near $6 billion, or about only 20 percent of the near general fund operating budget. Higher education falls within that $6 billion, making it extremely vulnerable for major cuts.