LEGISLATURE PREPARES TO TAKE UP BUDGET ISSUES Senate
Ways and Means Chairman Jim West, R-Spokane, will meet privately with state
senators today and discuss two of the most important pieces of legislation
this session: the supplemental operating and capital budget bills. The
budgets, which so far have not yet been made public, come on the heels
of Thursday's new revenue forecast that added $13 million to the current
biennium but reduced assumptions for the upcoming 1999-01 biennium by $350
million. The governor reacted by scaling back his tax cut package by $100
million and his expenditures by $8 million. West is expected to fund a
University of Washington "gigapop" proposal that is likely to benefit other
research organizations in the state including Washington State University.
However, few other details on the budget are yet available.
GOVERNOR PROPOSES $1.2 MILLION TO SOLVE THE WSU TRUST
LANDS ISSUE IN THE FUTURE
In the final days before legislators began finalizing
their budgets, Gov. Gary Locke amended his supplemental operating budget
request to include $1.2 million of general fund moneys to pay for management
of Washington State University's agricultural trust land. The state attorney
general issued an opinion in August of 1996 that it was improper for the
state Department of Natural Resources to charge approximately 25 percent
management fees on sale of timber in the WSU agricultural trust. Locke
vetoed legislation last year, urging WSU and DNR to come to an agreement
on a solution. The $1.2 million request represents an agreement reached
between WSU and DNR to manage lands for the balance of this year. No word
yet on whether the House and Senate will address the issue in their budgets.
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES WSU RETIREMENT
SERVICE CREDIT BILL (SB 6303)
The House Appropriations Committee voted 24-0 Thursday
to allow WSU employees to purchase back the two years of credit towards
retirement they lost when transferring from the Teacher's retirement plan
(TIAA-CREF) to the state Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) in 1973.
The vote came minutes after WSU testified in favor of the bill, indicating
the legislation may be on a fast track. Approximately 50 current Washington
State University employees were affected by the transfer in the 1970s.
WSU, working in cooperation with the Staff Senate and the Washington Federation
of State Employees, petitioned the Joint Pension Policy Committee last
year to make the change. The Policy Committee submitted the necessary statutory
change to the Legislature in the form of Senate Bill 6303. The bill has
cleared the Senate and Thursday's vote means it will go to the Rules Committee
in a timely fashion and could receive early consideration on the floor
of the full House of Representatives soon. Efforts by WSU to get authority
to share the cost of the transfer with employees was not allowed under
state retirement policies. For example, an eligible employee with an average
final compensation of $50,000 would be required to pay approximately $22,000
to purchase back two years of prior service. Senate Bill 6303, sponsored
by Sen. Al Bauer, D-Vancouver, continues to move well through the legislative
process. It appears to be the vehicle for passage even though an identical
bill, HB 2489, has been moving through the House.
COSTCO VP HAS BUSY DAY IN FRONT OF THE SENATE HIGHER
EDUCATION COMMITTEE - 2020 COMMISSION
Costco Senior Vice President Bob Craves had his confirmation
hearing before the Senate Higher Education Committee Thursday as the new
chairman of the state Higher Education Coordinating Board. At the same
hearing, Craves was also asked to testify on the plans of the new "2020
Commission on the Future of Higher Education" which he co-chairs with Jack
Creighton, who retired last year as CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company after six
years. Governor Gary Locke charged the 2020 Commission with developing
"an innovative vision of what a world-class system of post-secondary education
and life-long learning in Washington should be like by the year 2020."
The commission is to recommend "realistic steps" to implement
that vision. Other members of the commission are Phyllis Campbell, President
of U.S. Bank of Washington; Chuck Collins, who led the Higher Education
Coordinating Board when branch campuses were created; Former State Sen.
Rick Bender, now president of the Washington State Labor Council; Judge
Mary Kay Becker of the Washington State Court of Appeals, a former legislator
and Western Washington University regent; John Corbally, former president
of the University of Illinois; James Dagnon, Boeing senior vice president;
Former Governor Dan J. Evans, now a member of the University of Washington
Board of Regents; Kelso Gillenwater, former publisher of The News Tribune
of Tacoma and the Tri-City Herald; Toya Gist, a Pierce College student;
Former State Senate Majority Leader Jeannette Hayner of Walla Walla; Karen
Lane, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center senior vice president; Bill
Madia, director of Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland;
William H. Neukom, senior vice president for Law & Corporate Affairs
at Microsoft; Carlos Olivares, Yakima Valley Farm Workers' Clinic executive
director; May Pugh, chair of the University of Washington Medical Center
board; Wendell Satre, former CEO of Washington Water Power; Jon Shroyer,
former CEO of Sharp Microelectronics in Vancouver and chair of the Association
of Washington Business; David Tang, former member of the Higher Education
Coordinating Board, and E. Anne Winchester, co-president of Laser Learning
Technologies and former chair of the state board for community and technical
colleges.
