Olympia Updates

LEGISLATORS POISED TO PASS COMPROMISE BUDGET AND RETURN HOME

A supplemental operating budget agreement - including 1,045 new fully-funded student enrollments for the Washington State University system and $54.3 million for a "K-20" telecommunications system - was hammered out by legislative leaders last night. The budget (ESSB 6251) passed the Senate 46-3 earlier today with strong bi-partisan support and the House appears poised to send it on to Gov. Mike Lowry on this final day of this 60-day legislative session.

* Pullman Numbers Include Extended Degree and Learning Center Programs; FTE means "full-time equivalent"

GOLDMARK CONFIRMED AS WSU REGENT

Okanogan Rancher Peter Goldmark was confirmed 45-0 today to a six-year term as a member of the WSU Board of Regents. Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, D-Long Beach, and Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, spoke for Goldmark.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 1996 SUPPLEMENTAL OPERATING BUDGET AGREEMENT:

• The new enrollments provided by this budget agreement, combined with 450 student enrollment slots provided by the 1995 Legislature, boost the contract enrollment number at Washington State University for the next academic year to 19,330. Last fall's contract enrollment was 17,835.

• This compromise fully funds $1.525 million for pesticide and wine grape research mandated - but not funded - by the 1995 Legislature.

• This budget funds $450,000 for WSU's share of the cooperative library project, linking the on-line catalog systems of the state's four-year institutions.

• This budget provides a pool of $54 million in capital and operating funds that could be tapped for the Washington Higher Education Network (WHEN), a fiber optic and microwave network that extends the WSU WHETS system to all four-year universities and the community colleges. Also drawing from this pool of funds will be the K-12 system, including educational service districts. The exact amount of money that will be available to apply toward the $40 million university WHEN system - and how much will be available to K-12 will apparently be left up to a process created by this legislature.

• More than $4 million in non-state funds will also be transferred to WSU to transfer more than 40 employees and certain programs from the state Energy Office to cooperative extension. Also provided are $25,000 in state moneys.

• $50,000 is provided to the attorney general's office to assist the department of natural resources, as trustee, and the state's four-year institutions of higher education, as trust beneficiaries, to develop factual issues relating to habitat conservation plans on public lands.

• The Legislature reduced the university budget $384,000 to off-set a reduction in the rate the university pays for employee health benefits. That means savings from these reductions cannot be passed on to the employee. By reducing the employee allocation, the benefits package offered to employees is not reduced and employee premium co-payments are not increased.

• $70,000 is provided for research to determine a tamper-free means of cultivating marijuana for safe and effective medicinal purposes.

This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as state government developments occur. Contact Karen Fischer, WSU State-wide Affairs, 509/335-6665. Larry Ganders is at 360/438-7552; Fax: 360/438-8104. (ganders@wsunix.wsu.edu.) For bill status and other legislative info, visit our web page at www.wsu.edu/IR/wsulegis/olympia.html.