OLYMPIA — Some Snohomish County lawmakers are trying to assure colleagues that a new University of Washington campus in Everett will grow just as slowly as those in Bothell and Tacoma.
These legislators are working hard in private to win over lawmakers who worry the state will be put on the hook for paying an estimated $1 billion for a new campus.
Rep. Hans Dunshee told the House Capital Budget Committee on Friday the new campus would not demand large investments early on and siphon dollars from other campuses. It would develop gradually, like the state’s other branch campuses.
This would mean not reaching within 20 years the much discussed goals of serving 5,000 students and offering a robust program of science, technology and engineering courses.
“I’m getting what I can out of here,” Dunshee said afterwards, explaining legislators from the outside the area won’t act on a site if they perceive university supporters are asking for too much.
“It’s always been about the reality here,” he said.
Today a legislative panel will consider the question of where to build.
The House Higher Education Committee is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. for a hearing on competing legislation to place the new campus on 27 acres near Everett Station or steer it to 369 acres in Marysville near Smokey Point.
The Senate Higher Education Committee held a similar hearing Jan. 17 and passed its version of the bill establishing a University of Washington campus in Everett.
Everett Station and Marysville properties ranked highest in a November report issued by a state-hired consultant.
Thus far in the legislative session, Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties legislators are the ones most visibly fencing on the site while trying to shore up support.
Representatives and senators from other parts of the state seem more concerned with the cost.
There is no construction money in the current state budget. Gov. Chris Gregoire is proposing funds for teaching 60 students at a temporary location if a decision is made on a permanent home.
Dunshee and University of Washington officials testified Friday that without a sizable infusion of cash into the state’s higher education system, the proposed college could not be built rapidly without cutting into funding for other two- and four-year schools.
Dunshee said the answer may lie in passing a statewide bond for higher education. Voters approved a $750 million bond six years ago but that money is spent or promised for projects. He said he might consider pushing it next year.
State Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, who wants the university to be built in Marysville, said she’d support a bond because she doesn’t want to wait 20 years for an engineering program to start.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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