On Friday, March 30, Governor Gregoire signed two pieces of legislation the public baccalaureate institutions worked on together throughout the legislative session. Check out the news release here or read it below:

The Evergreen State College supports the passage of two “efficiency” bills – House Bill 2259 and House Bill 2585. These bills provide for regulatory relief in Evergreen’s campus operations, and are welcome developments in support of our college’s efforts to operate more efficiently.

House Bill 2259 specifically eliminates a duplicative crime statistics report our institution has been required to report at both the state and federal levels. This one change will ease increased workload on staff, allowing them to focus on the day-to-day duties required to ensure Evergreen is running as efficiently as possible.

House Bill 2585 provides for increased flexibility and reduction in procedural steps in purchasing and competitive bidding for purchases of $100,000 or less, advanced payments for equipment maintenance, travel arrangements, and more direct negotiation authority on purchasing. 

“Our support for these bills is entirely consistent with our continuing efforts at increasing efficiency and providing value in higher education for Washington,” says Evergreen President, Dr. Thomas L. Purce. “We applaud the efforts of the legislature to provide our institution with greater flexibility in difficult economic times and look forward to moving forward.”