Tag Archives: State Need Grant

Budget, Budget, Budget

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Budget was the key word today at the Legislature. The House Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed 2010 supplemental budget. The House Education Appropriations Committee held a work session on the same issue. Finally, House Capital Budget held a public hearing on a jobs creation bill that would benefit education in Washington.

Governor Gregoire addressed the House Ways & Means Committee this afternoon. She shared the challenges posed in her all-cuts budget and hopes she has for restoration of some programs and services through additional state and federal revenues.

The Council of Presidents and representatives from each of the four-year public baccalaureate institutions testified before the House Committee. Evergreen focused testimony on the impact of the reductions to date and the impact of additional cuts on students, faculty, and the institution proposed in the Governor’s 2010 supplemental budget. Evergreen emphasized the impact of the proposed reductions and eliminations of state financial aid programs on Greeners.

On the capital front, The Evergreen State College provided testimony in support of House Bill 2561. Senate Bill 2561 would allow the State Finance Committee to issue $861 million in general obligation bonds, to be known as Jobs Act Bonds, for the purpose of creating jobs by constructing capital improvements that lead to energy-related cost savings in public schools, state colleges and universities, and other public facilities. House Bill 2561 establishes a competitive grant process for public schools and higher education institutions to attain the funds bonded in the bill.

Evergreen supports House Bill 2561 because of its focus on sustainable energy projects and education. In addition, HB 2561 provides the opportunity for Evergreen to discuss with legislators the value of investing in sustainability focused projects and programs, such as Evergreen’s Biomass Gasification Project.

Finally, The Evergreen State College attended a work session of the House Education Appropriations Committe focused on the impact to education of the Governor’s proposed 2010 supplemental budget.

House Higher Education Talks Tuition and Budget

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The House Higher Education Committee today held a work session that focused on tuition and the Governor’s proposed 2010 supplemental budget.

Representatives from the Governor’s Office along with the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Washington Student Association (WSA) provided invited testimony to the Committee regarding their concerns and hopes about tuition policy and budget this session.

George an Evergreen student shared his personal story with legislators along with several other students organized through WSA.

Legislators raised questions regarding higher education costs, the level of budget reductions passed in the 2009 session, and efforts towards worker retraining.

2010 Supplemental Session Begins in Washington

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The 2010 supplemental session began today in Olympia. A quick “101” regarding the Washington Legislature. Each even-numbered year the Washington State Legislature meets for sixty days to make technical corrections, introduce policy bills needed, and rebalance the buget if required. This session all of these are topics of discussion.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate and House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be a review of the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget, released in mid-December.

In addition, the higher education policy committees plan to tackle several critical issues impacting Washington’s institutions of higher learning, including high skills and wages, tuition policy, budget, governance, and technology.

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

President Purce Responds to Governor’s Budget Proposal

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Governor Gregoire’s December 9th supplemental budget proposal fulfilled a state constitutional requirement that the spending scenario not exceed available revenues. While suggesting that without new revenue, the cuts Washington State needs to incur would test Washingtonians’ closely-held values, the Governor challenged citizens and administrators statewide to respond with creative solutions.

In an email to the Evergreen community, President Les Purce emphasized the threat posed to the College by the budget scenario. He highlighted the fact that this early proposal represents the beginning of a process that will continue in upcoming months. He also specifically outlined the potential damage: the permanent $4 million reduction in state support to the College and the deep cuts to the State Need Grant:

Statewide, 77,000 students rely on the State Need Grant.  The Governor’s proposal would change eligibility requirements to remove more than 12,000 students from the program and cut the level of grant for the remaining students almost in half.  At Evergreen, more than 1300 resident undergraduate students – 41% of our resident undergraduates – currently rely on the State Need Grant for at least a portion of their total cost of attendance.  The average size of the grant is about $4,200.  While the Governor has indicated her desire to restore funding for student financial aid in a budget proposal she will release in January, the final impact on specific students will not be known until the legislature completes its work at the end of March.

The College “will be using our budget cut scenarios from last year as a starting point for decision making” in an effort to underline the already devastating cuts enacted with the 2009/2011 operating budget. Discussions are ongoing as to how Evergreen can continue to manage those previous cuts with a view to preserving our current funding. Further cuts will threaten fundamental aspects of the Evergreen experience, by drastically affecting students’ ability to attend and pay for college and Evergreen’s ability to provide instructional and student services at sustainable levels.