²ÝÁñÉçÇø

Legislators made the correct decision this week by granting the state’s five public universities and The Evergreen State College the authority to set their own tuition rates. Gov. Chris Gregoire said she will sign the bill that isn’t as big a procedural sea change as its detractors claim. Fact is, this is the way it’s done in most states; Washington is one of only a few states where the Legislature has set tuition rates.

But it wasn’t conformity with other states that drove lawmakers to make this change. Like many other decisions in recent years, it was sheer destitution, to the tune of a projected $5.1 billion budget deficit that legislators have confronted during a 30-day special session now at its midway point.