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 place, and an additional 1.5 percent administrative cut will land on all public higher education this session.  

The cuts would be deeper, but the House and Senate both propose to offset a larger cut in operating funds to the state’s four-year institutions by back-filling from the capital budget’s minor works account. The minor works account would then be replenished with bond revenue.

This novel maneuver is essentially a one-time transfer from the capital budget (which funds buildings and facilities) to the operating budget (which funds most everything else).  

The House and Senate will release capital budget proposals later on February 23, and we will learn then what impact this strategy could have on Evergreen’s capital funding.  

Both budgets offer the college $35,000 toward maintenance of the Historic Lord Mansion. 

For Evergreen, the Senate budget is the best since it fully revokes the $2.7 million unique Evergreen cut levied last session. The House budget only rescinds half of the cut. We will be making our views known to budget writers in testimony and meetings over the coming days.  

The Legislature will hold budget hearings throughout the week. The bills will be heard in the House and Senate chambers over the weekend of February 28-March 1. Budget conference teams will meet next week to reconcile and land on a final version of the operating, capital and transportation budgets.