Governor Chris Gregoire signed the 2009-11 state budget yesterday, along with a passel of other bills, bringing the work of the 2009 legislature to a close.
We’ve already covered the highlights of the session from the perspective of Independent Colleges of Washington, most notably a $52 million increase in student aid funding in the face of a budget for which the operative word was “cut.” Keep your fingers crossed the the economy stabilizes and state revenue collection rebounds enough that a special session to re-visit the budget won’t be needed this fall.
The governor vetoed a number of provisions, but no major ones related to higher education. Policy wonks among our readership can check her veto message. The final version of the budget should be posted soon here, under the title of “session law.”
We won’t embed it here, but if you wish to see the bill signing ceremony and the governor’s Q&A with the media afterward, you can go watch the coverage from TVW.
