Green River Community College’s Board of Trustees yesterday unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Legislature’s effort to find additional revenue to help balance the state’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Tom Campbell, board chair, said. “An all-cuts budget will take a huge bite out of higher education effectively denying access to thousands of students statewide.”

The system’s 34 community and technical colleges have predicted a shortage of classes and programs denying access to more than 40,000 students by 2013 if deep cuts to higher education funding continue, Campbell said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire proposed a half-penny increase to the state’s sales tax with a majority of the new revenue going to education, including community and technical colleges. In its resolution, Green River’s board deferred to the legislature to determine the best way to increase revenue while keeping impacts to the state's economic recovery to a minimum.

“Our board is united in supporting a revenue plan that softens an expected harsh blow to our two-year schools,” Campbell said. “We feel confident the Legislature will develop a plan that will do just that. Additional double-digit budget cuts will begin to impact access for students.”

“Green River Community College has been able to support student access despite four successive years of cuts to our budget," Dr. Eileen Ely, Green River's president, said. "Another year of deep cuts will limit access at a time when the local economy needs us the most to train workers for family-wage jobs and to increase the number of baccalaureate degree students.”

More than 9,000 students attend Green River Community College each quarter. The college has the largest number of Worker Retraining students in the state and is one of the top producers of transfer-ready students to four-year colleges and universities.

See Board Resolution