Newsbeat

Priority university investment bills pass House

Two measures that would give the university more flexibility in the investing of certain operating funds made final passage off of the House floor today. With a vote of concurrence in the Senate, the issue will go to voters as a proposed amendment to the state constitution. Senate Bill 6468 passed with a vote of […]

Two regulatory reform bills reach final passage

The Senate passed two higher education regulatory reform priority bills Wednesday evening. House Bill 2259 dealing with eliminating duplicative reporting requirements passed with a vote of 48-0 and now heads to the governor’s desk. House Bill 2585, which seeks to ease restrictions on an array of business practices for the state’s public baccalaureate institutions, passed […]

Senate budget contains no cuts for higher education

Leaders in the state Senate this morning unveiled a budget proposal that closes the state’s budget shortfall while holding education and higher education harmless. “Senate lawmakers have shown a profound commitment to higher education with this budget,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “By preserving higher education, they are to be commended for investing in […]

Aviation biofuels legislation passed out of Senate

The Senate passed House Bill 2422 concerning the production of aviation biofuels earlier today with a 45-4 vote. The House previously approved it 86-11.  You can find our previous coverage on aviation biofuels legislation here. Check out the Senate floor discussion and passage of House Bill 2422 below.  

House budget unveiled

Washington State University would see an additional budget cut of $9.34 million under a proposal release Tuesday by leaders in the Washington State House of Representatives. While the cut is substantial, it represents a figure far less than the $26 million reduction proposed in November by the governor, when the size of the budget shortfall […]

WSU students make their case in Olympia

A total of 40 civically engaged WSU students made their way to the Capitol yesterday to meet legislators and discuss the student perspective on funding for higher education. The large student presence was received well and left a positive impression. The Tri-City Herald covered the discussions that 14 students from the WSU Tri-Cities campus had […]

Revenue forecast rises by $96 million

Compared to the last quarterly revenue forecast released in November, the general fund revenue for the 2011-13 biennium is up by $96 million, now sitting at about $30.3 billion, according to a new report issued this morning Coming on the heels of news that lower than expanded demand for state services will produce $340 million […]

Caseloads savings grow to $340 million

According to news reports here and here, the anticipated savings from last week’s lower than expected caseloads forecast have grown from about $200 million to $340 million. In plain speaking terms, there is a bit less demand for some state services than previously expected. The news reduces the state’s billion-dollar-plus budget shortfall. And tomorrow, the […]

Two more priority regulatory reform bills pass

The Legislature reached the first floor cutoff of this year’s session at 5 p.m. today, having approved two key higher education regulatory reform bills before doing so. There remains one vehicle for each bill going forward. On Monday night the House approved House Bill 2735 97-1 to provide more flexibility and efficiency in getting minor […]

Tax collections rise modestly

Tax collections due to new economic activity since the November revenue forecast have exceeded expectations by $37.5 million, or 1 percent. That might just bode well for Thursday’s revenue forecast, which budget writers in the Legislature will use to draft their rewrite of the current two-year budget. Total collections are up by $44.8 million, though […]