The 2013 biennial session will begin on Monday in Olympia. A quick “101” regarding the Washington Legislature. Each odd-numbered year the Washington State Legislature meets for 105-days to pass biennial operating, capital and transportation budgets and enact policy bills.

In addition to these tasks, the Washington Legislature will also tackle a response to the K-12 McCleary decision and implementation of Obamacare at the state level. All of which are the focus of next week’s committee hearings in both the Senate and the House.

Next week the focus of the appropriations committees will be a review of the Governor’s proposed 2013-15 biennial budget, released in mid-December. Higher education will have an opportunity to testify with regard to the proposed budget on January 15 in House Appropriations.

In addition, the higher education policy committees plan to focus on the higher education priorities of stakeholders. On January 16 the Council of Presidents and the six public baccalaureate institutions will present their priorities to the Committee. Other stakeholders including students, faculty, and the Washington Achievement Council will present on Tuesday and Thursday.

Stay tune for the latest news from The Hill…..