If Snohomish wants its own UW, it’ll have to wait in line.

That’s what the House Higher Education Committee ruled yesterday, when it passed an amended version of the proposal for a UW campus in downtown Everett. The committee approved the bill under the condition that proper funding for other schools isn’t sacrificed.

“They want to make sure that the campus moves forward in a manner consistent with other institutions of higher education,” said Randy Hodgins, UW director of state relations. “Hopefully, this amendment will make some people less anxious or worried about [funding for the campus] meshing with the budget implications of other institutions.”

The amended bill passed 8-2, which means it will go under consideration from the House Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations committee will determine if the project is financially feasible.

“The amendment really speaks to the fiscal constraints of the capital budget,” said Rep. Mike Sells, the bill’s sponsor. “We’ve reached the capacity for capital budget, and we don’t want to be robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Capital funding is money appropriated for development and construction, whereas operating budget is money allotted to pay for programs and hire faculty.

The operating budget available for the project is $1.1 million, but capital funding is lacking for the foreseeable future, Sells said.

“With this amendment, the legislature wants a slower and more incremental growth pattern,” Hodgins said. “I think the local politicians and businesses of Snohomish County were hoping this would be done more quickly, because you basically can’t have any programs without having the facilities first.”

Snohomish County is the largest county in Washington state without a four-year university.

The UW-Bothell campus, operating under its enrollment capacity, is only 18 miles away from the proposed Everett site.

Snohomish legislators had hoped that science and engineering programs could be facilitated in the next couple years, Hodgins said. If the Bothell and Tacoma campuses are any indication, it will be closer to 20 years.

“The casualty of today’s amendment is getting these polytechnic programs running anytime soon,” Hodgins said.

Sells hopes to see the bill pass by the end of session.

“There’s more support for it now that we’ve amended it,” he said. “Whether it will happen or not remains to be seen.”

[Reach reporter Jeff Tripoli at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]