Seattle Mayor Says Free Junior College Won’t ‘Cost Anything’

Seattle has a new Mayor, it's second female in the office in 91 years, and she quickly proceeded to tell citizens she's pushing for free community college programs.

Jenny Durkin win the election earlier in November to fill the position formerly held by Ed Murray. He chose not to seek re-election after a series of sexual abuse allegations surfaced over the last year, concerning men who were at the time, teenage boys-in the 1980's.

Durkin plans to expand an already existing scholarship program by utilizing city budget dollars. According to KIRO-TV, Durkin says it won't cost anything, or result in new taxes. She says the city's budget of $5.2 billion can be streamlined and made more efficient, freeing up the estimated $5-7 million needed annually. But the program will not be available to everyone.

The program will likely only be targeted at kids of 'color' according to the Mayor. She says the city has already identified a number of areas where the money could be "taken" from, according to KIRO, but those were not specified. The program would be aimed at high school graduates.

Another option is to use revenue from the new soda tax the City Council passed this summer. Although a confusing plan reportedly full of loopholes, the tax basically taxes soda such as Pepsi, Coke, and other such brands.

The free community college plan is apparently going to happen, as Durkin has signed an executive order putting it into play.