PROPOSED SENATE CAPITAL BUDGET IS $89.25 MILLION FOR WSU, MORE THAN PROPOSED BY LOCKE
Sen. Gary Strannigan, R-Everett, unveiled a proposed capital budget for Washington State University Monday. WSU praised the Senate proposal which continue the state's tradition of providing quality buildings to higher education. There were many similarities with the governor's budget. Branch campus funding in the WSU Capital budget from the Senate is identical to the budget proposed by Gov. Locke. Differences included:
- $98,200 was provided in predesign funds for a proposed Apparel Merchandising, Interior Design, and Landscape Architecture building (AMID) on the Pullman campus. The AMID project eventually may lead to a $26.8 million building.
- Predesign funds were not provided for a Museum of Art Project in Pullman recommended by the Governor.
- $1 million more ($5 million total) was provided for the university's "omnibus equipment request." The additional $1 million was earmarked for agricultural equipment for WSU experiment stations and was the result of lobbying by agriculture groups.
PROPOSED SENATE OPERATING BUDGET PROVIDES $464.9 MILLION FOR WSU, AN 11.5 % INCREASE
Details of the proposed Senate Budget released Monday by Ways and Means Chairman Jim West, R-Spokane, indicate a $464.9 million operating budget in tuition and general fund monies for Washington State University, about $1.3 million less than proposed by Governor Gary Locke but about $500 thousand more than suggested by outgoing Gov. Mike Lowry. The budget will now be considered today by the Senate Ways and Means Committee with possible action before the full Senate floor next week. The State House of Representatives are expected to release their proposed version of the budget tomorrow.
THE WSU REACTION: UNIVERSITY PRAISES SENATE BUDGET
President Sam Smith was in Olympia Monday to personally praise Sen. West for his efforts on the operating budget. Among the comments that WSU has conveyed to the Chairman:
- The proposed Senate budget provides 766 new enrollments to Washington State University and fully funds those enrollments which will help the quality of education. WSU supports this enrollment number. The proposed Senate budget provides $10.99 million for enrollment increases compared to $8.86 million proposed by Gov. Locke.
- It provides a needed cost-of-living increase to state employees effective on July 1, 1997. West provides $9.9 million for these salary increases. Gov. Locke proposed two salary increases at 2.5 percent each year for $12.48 million.
- It provides a faculty salary retention pool (1/3 for WSU and 2/3 for UW) that is better than Gov. Locke's. The share for WSU is $2.1 million for this fund which can be used to retain WSU faculty members whose pay may be falling behind their colleagues across the country. Locke provided $750,000 to WSU for this purpose.
- The proposed Senate budget permits WSU to use new tuition monies to fund salary increases for instructional and research faculty, librarians, counselors and professionals for up to an additional 1 percent average salary increase in the first year and up to a 2 percent salary increase in the second year. It is likely that WSU would exercise this option which would expend about $4.75 million in tuition monies. Gov. Locke recommended $3.43 million in quality improvements which could have been used for similar purposes.
- Like Gov. Locke, the proposed Senate budget makes 2 percent cuts to existing non-instructional programs. However, WSU prefers a mechanism in the Senate budget that holds these funds in reserve and returns them to the institution for new programs if WSU reaches its goals for accountability.
- One area of concern is that the Senate budget will put enormous pressure on each campus, particularly branch campuses, to enroll exactly the number of students budgeted by the Legislature. If it does not, the university must return the funds to the state. If this policy had been in effect the past few years, all branch campuses in the state would have taken huge budget cuts for their enrollment shortfalls. Hitting an enrollment target exactly is difficult when new programs are being established and campuses are growing rapidly. WSU testified Monday that the state should not penalize the institution if it comes within 2-3 percent of its target overall, an "enrollment band" that has been used in previous years. WSU and Gov. Locke proposed a 3 percent enrollment band for main campuses and 10 percent enrollment band for branch campuses. Sen. West proposes 4 percent enrollment increases for WSU including about 2 percent in Pullman, 22.7 percent at WSU Spokane, 19.3 percent at WSU Tri-Cities and 24.7 percent at WSU Vancouver. In addition, the Senate budget will require return of 10 percent of the enrollment monies if WSU does not achieve accountability standards like meeting student retention or efficiency goals set by the state Higher Education Coordinating Board.
- The proposed Senate budget provides no explicit funding for inflation, Virtual WSU programs, operation of K-20 electronic classrooms, or expansion of Learning Centers. The Senate budget provides $2.3 million in undesignated tuition monies that could be used for this purpose, less than the $7.2 million provided by Gov. Locke.
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