{"id":72,"date":"2017-01-18T00:52:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T00:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/?p=72"},"modified":"2018-03-13T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-13T16:54:00","slug":"2017sessionupdate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/2017\/01\/18\/2017sessionupdate\/","title":{"rendered":"Students, Faculty, Staff, and Presidents Call for Increased Funding for Public Universities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students, Faculty, Staff, and Presidents Call for Increased Funding for Public Universities<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a letter to legislative leaders, students, faculty, staff, and presidents of the public universities called for at least another $100\u00a0million in state investments from the level proposed last month by Governor Kate Brown.<\/p>\n

Our unified funding request highlights and supports the following reality: To keep tuition increases below five percent at most universities, and also preserve most financial aid and student support services, state investment in the Public University Support Fund (PUSF) will need to increase by at least $100 million above the Governor\u2019s Budget\u2014in the 2017-19 biennium. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can find a copy of the letter<\/a> on the OSU Government Relations website and coverage of the accompanying press release in The Oregonian<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Legislators Organize for the 2017 Legislative Session<\/strong><\/p>\n

Legislators met last week to organize for the 2017 legislative session, which will begin in earnest on Wednesday, February 1st.\u00a0 As expected, they elected leadership \u2013 Sen. Peter Courtney (D-Salem) will serve in an unprecedented eighth term as Senate President and Rep. Tina Kotek (D-Portland) will serve in her third term as Speaker of the House.\u00a0 The leaders have announced committee rosters, and the approximately 1,700 bills that had been filed in December are now posted <\/a>on the legislative website.<\/p>\n

The Speaker and Senate President have referred the first wave of bills to the relevant committees for consideration.\u00a0 We expect two or three more waves of new bills in the coming weeks as legislators complete the drafting process.\u00a0 We will be notifying various colleges and principals in the next week with information regarding bills that affect OSU\u2019s education, research, and outreach activities.\u00a0 If there is a particular bill that is of interest or concern to you, don\u2019t hesitate to let us know.<\/p>\n

Most higher education-related bills will likely fall under the jurisdiction of the following legislative committees and subcommittees:<\/p>\n

Joint Ways & Means Committee<\/a><\/p>\n

Co-chaired by Sen. Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin) and Rep. Nancy Nathanson (D-Eugene), this committee is responsible for appropriating funds. Its Subcommittee on Capital Construction will determine how the state\u2019s debt capacity will be used to finance long-term construction projects.\u00a0 The Subcommittee on Education will allocate operating funds across the education continuum from early childhood to post-graduate and career education.\u00a0 With significant turnover in the House since the 2015 session, House membership and leadership in the Ways & Means process has also changed.<\/p>\n

Ways & Means Capital Construction Subcommittee<\/a><\/p>\n