OLYMPIA — Efforts to land a University of Washington campus in Snohomish County during this session of the Legislature are running into serious trouble.
“It’s on life support right now,” said Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett.
“I don’t think it has any chance this session,” said Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island.
But the dream of a college is not dead yet.
Legislation creating the UW Everett — House Bill 2548 — did not get voted on by the House of Representatives by a Tuesday afternoon deadline.
Now all eyes are on the House Democrats’ budget, issued Wednesday, because the budget will remain in play to the end of the session.
There on page 278 is $100,000 for the UW to write up an academic plan for a new campus serving Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.
The plan is not due until June 1, 2009, which seems to mean no classes this fall as Gov. Chris Gregoire and college supporters had wanted.
“The governor is probably going to have to step into this a bit if she wants it to survive,” Sells said.
What, if anything, Gregoire will do during this session is unclear.
“It’s on her radar screen,” said Marty Brown, Gregoire’s legislative director.
However, Brown said the turf battle over where the university should be built is bogging down the process. It’s similar to a fight in the Tri-Cities area of Eastern Washington several years ago that delayed building a Washington State University branch campus, he said.
“The governor has been pretty clear all along that higher education for Snohomish and north is very important,” Brown said. “She has been equally adamant that the community come together on a site.”
The Legislature allotted $4 million last year to search out possible sites and begin designing an academic program for a new branch campus. Gregoire proposed spending $1.1 million on classes this year if a location is chosen.
Communities in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties are divided on the question of where to build.
A consultant study that ranked Everett Station ahead of property in the Marysville-Smokey Point area has been criticized by leaders of those communities north of Everett. They say it contains inaccurate information, making the scoring that placed the Everett site on top incorrect.
Rep. Hans Dunshee, a Snohomish Democrat and the vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he’s not giving up on this session. He pushed to get the planning money included in the House’s proposed budget.
“With this (budget item), we are keeping it alive and still moving it forward,” Dunshee said.
The House could vote on this spending plan in the next week and send it to the Senate for consideration.
Haugen doesn’t see it going far this year.
“We would have to win the lottery and the state doesn’t buy tickets,” she said.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.
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