Everett, Wash.
Published: Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Two hearings this week on university for Snohomish County

A Senate panel is scheduled to discuss legislation about the university on Friday.

By Jerry Cornfield
Herald Writer

 OLYMPIA -- A state Senate committee will hold two hearings this week to discuss efforts to launch a four-year university in Snohomish County.

Today, the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee is scheduled to discuss why legislators of Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties could not agree last year on where to build a proposed University of Washington branch campus.

The hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

In March 2008, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board received $100,000 to mediate between those who backed putting the college in Everett and those desiring it in Marysville.

The board hired Bill Wilkerson to try to resume the talks, and he reported in December that consensus could not be reached.

On Friday at 1:30 p.m., the same Senate panel is scheduled to consider two bills with different approaches to starting a college.

The bills are:

SB 5625 to authorize a four-year university in the county. The bill does not specify that the new college must be a UW branch campus. It also does not identify a site or set a date for classes to begin. Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, is the bill's author.

SB 5106 to establish an independent four-year polytechnic university. This legislation would allow the Snohomish County Council or county voters to raise the sales tax and use the money to build and operate the university. Council members could choose a location, and a board of directors appointed by them would run the college. Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, introduced this bill.

For more information on the legislation, go to www.leg.wa.gov. To watch hearings online, go to www.tvw.org.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA