March 11, 2026—With the goal of preserving and protecting essential services to Washingtonians, budget leaders today offered their conference supplemental operating budget to the Legislature. For Evergreen, the budget gives us a one-time restoration of the $2.7 million cut… Continue Reading →
March 6, 2026—With six days left in the legislative session, lawmakers are rushing to finalize key pieces of legislation needed for the state to resolve its revenue shortages, and pass operating, capital and transportation budgets. As of March 3, House and Senate leaders are “in conference,” privately negotiating with each… Continue Reading →
February 23, 2026—The state House and Senate dropped their operating budget proposals late Sunday, February 22, with public hearings scheduled for 4 pm February 23 in the Appropriations and Ways and Means committees. For higher education, the budget outlook overall remains lean. Cuts from last session remain in… Continue Reading →
February 6, 2026—With the chairs of the Legislature’s higher education committees calling for protection of public higher education budgets, lawmakers are beginning to hammer out the Senate and House respective budget proposals. Meanwhile, Evergreen alumni, students, faculty and staff are mobilizing to tell Evergreen stories that demonstrate the need to… Continue Reading →
January 23, 2026—Public higher education including Evergreen took the stage this second week of session, with groups of stakeholders convening at the Legislature to advocate with decision-makers and rally against cuts to higher ed budgets. On MLK Day January 19, the state’s largest unions came to ask legislators to fully fund cost of living increases for… Continue Reading →
January 5, 2026–Governor Ferguson released his 2026 supplemental operating budget on December 23, with cuts across the board to state agencies, institutions and higher education. However, embedded in his proposal is some better news for Evergreen. The governor’s proposal adds more… Continue Reading →
April 28, 2025—Yesterday afternoon the Legislature passed the state’s 2025-27 operating, capital and transportation budgets, sending them to Governor Ferguson for action. In a year when the state faced the largest budget deficit since the Great Recession, the public four-year… Continue Reading →
April 16, 2025—The delicate Yoshiro cherry blossoms have come and gone, but the Kwanzan cherry trees which line the Capitol grounds are out with brilliant, robust pink flowers. For political veterans, this is the signal that the budget endgame is… Continue Reading →
April 4, 2025—Settling the state’s 2025-27 biennial budgets is now Job One for the Legislature, as lawmakers begin quiet discussions to reconcile differences in proposed spending and raise revenue. The House and Senate proposals would have enormously different impacts on… Continue Reading →
March 14, 2025—This legislative session passed the “house of origin cut-off” on March 12, which means that measures that didn’t make it through their chamber are likely dead for the year. This week we said farewell to expanding eligibility for… Continue Reading →
