WSU student lobbyists meet with legislators for annual ‘Cougs to the Capitol’

OLYMPIA – A typical day at the Capitol for some lobbyists may be full of meetings and long hearings with little interactions with lawmakers.

But not to the over 100 Washington State University students who made the trek from all five campuses across the state to the Capitol – the farthest from Pullman, five hours aways.

“Sometimes we have some problem with slippery roads, but this time, it was smooth sailing,” said Associated Students of WSU President Isaac Velazquez.

In a yearly event called Cougs to the Capitol, students pack their way into the state Capitol building’s reverberant corridors and legislative offices to lobby on behalf of the student population. This is Velazquez’s fourth year participating in the event.

“This is how I got started with ASWSU, was actually through lobbying efforts,” he said.

The students do not lobby for the university itself, like full-time WSU lobbyists, but rather the students’ priorities.

This year, the key topics were protecting the Washington College Grant, investing in the Workforce Education Investment Act and adding safeguards to artificial intelligence.

“We want to make sure that what we’re asking of the legislature is reasonable, and we actually get good results,” said ASWSU Legislative Director Bhargav Iyer, who lives in Olympia full time during the 60-day session to lobby on behalf of the student government.

As a biology student, he likely won’t have a career in government affairs , but he still enjoys advocating for his school.

“I’m doing this because I love to give back to the community that’s raised me, and for the last four years, it’s been WSU,” Iyer said.

In the governor’s proposed budget, WSU would receive a budget cut of more than $11 million.

Ferguson proposed 3.2% cuts to WSU and the University of Washington and smaller cuts to other universities.

“We need that assistance,” Velazquez said.

WSU doctoral student Shae Ortega was participating in the lobbying event for their first time and was surprised at the openness of the members of the Legislature.

“Every representative we’ve talked to so far has been receptive,” said Ortega, who uses the pronoun they. “If they’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s OK.’ That, to me, is a win.”

Ortega said they tend to stray away from the partisanship that can plague such discussions with legislators.

“I hate the partisanship. I don’t like playing sides of the aisle,” Ortega said. “There are people-centered issues that we need to discuss as something that should be viewed as holistic and nonpartisan.”