Higher education must be budget priority for Washington state - Sen. Barbara Bailey, Whidbey News Times

Recently, Gov. Jay Inslee asked all state agencies, including our institutions of higher learning, to prepare for 15 percent budget cuts. The reality of the cuts is that state universities could be forced to raise tuition costs to offset reductions in funding from Olympia. This is unacceptable, which is why I will call on the governor to hold the line on funding for our state’s institutions of higher education in his 2015-2017 budget proposal. For too long, higher education budgets have been used as a piggy bank to fund other government programs. The next state budget may prove to be no different. Every time there has been a shortfall in the state’s budget, money has been taken from higher education to backfill the shortage. http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/opinion/277657331.html