On Wed., May 20, six CGE members went along with Dennis, our Organizer, back to Salem to testify to the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education in support of HB 2508, the bill that would roll universal and program-specific resource fees into tuition for grad employees in OUS.  You can listen to the testimony here (the hearing on HB 2508 begins around 34:40).

Those who testified did an excellent job, and it was fairly clear that most of the committee members sympathized with our cause.  However, we still have an uphill battle to convert their sympathy into a willingness to approve a bill that is not without financial impact on the state and OUS.  There are still ways this might happen, though.  For example, at this hearing, State Rep. Larry Galizio from Tigard suggested potentially tying passage of HB 2508 to another bill related to interest collected on tuition revenue that OUS would like to see pass.

We will continue to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of HB 2508, especially if there is further opportunity for us to offer input to the legeslature.