SENATE PASSES REVISED AND IMPROVED WSU SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET;
ACTION ON FIRST DAY OF SPECIAL SESSION AIDS TRI-CITIES CAMPUS
The Washington State Senate and the state House of Representatives have adjourned until Monday, March 13, 2000, the fourth day of the special legislative session. Senate negotiators will be meeting with House negotiators over the weekend to try to hammer out the final supplemental operating budget. As this report indicates, the positions on higher education are getting closer together. Check this web page Monday for more developments.
Second Substitute Senate Bill 6404 Provides Up To $4.5 Million in Funding for WSU
Budget Makes Higher Education A State Priority
The first day of the special session of the Legislature opened abruptly with the state Senate passing a new revised supplemental budget with a break-through enrollment funding mechanism. The 27-18 passage of the supplemental budget was hailed by WSU as a measure leading to a final legislative solution that will bring a bright future for the once-embattled WSU Tri-Cities campus. Punitive "all or nothing" enrollment provisos opposed by WSU and passed earlier by the Senate were replaced in the rewrite with funding to support the exact number of students that will be enrolled at each campus. Senate Ways and Means Chair Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco, worked out the new language with Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, Sen. Al Bauer, D-Vancouver, and Senate Majority Leader Sid Snyder, a Long Beach Democrat who supports the Vancouver campus. The new budget, approved with little discussion, brings Senate negotiators much closer to an agreement with House negotiators on a final budget for higher education. It appears to assure a positive outcome in the 2000 Legislature for WSU Tri-Cities, a campus that some legislators had threatened earlier in the regular session with up to $1.4 million in cuts from its existing budget.
New Senate Budget Enhances Funding at WSU Tri-Cities;
A More Equitable Level of Funding Per Student WSU Tri-Cities, which has received up to $2,000 per student less than other branch campuses in the state, will benefit from a lowering of the contracted student number. The latest Senate budget determines that the campus` current $5.1 million budget is sufficient to support 616 students next year, rather than the previous enrollment target of 754 students. That decision allows WSU Tri-Cities room to grow by 20 students next year without adversely impacting its existing budget. The previous version of the budget could have resulted in $775,000 in cuts if WSU Tri-Cities had not grown by more than 150 students. This brings WSU Tri-Cities` funding per student much closer to the state average of $8,650 per year for comparable branch campuses. This is close to House Democratic and Republican proposals that also would leave WSU Tri-Cities` current budget in place with a modest enrollment growth.
Sen. Loveland Eliminates Worrisome "All or Nothing" Provisos for WSU Pullman,
Allows Maximum Growth For Palouse Residential Campus
The original Senate budget, passed during the regular session, required WSU Pullman to grow by 287 students next year or lose $3.182 million from its existing budget. The new budget allows WSU to keep funding for any portion of the 287 students it enrolls, and receive additional funding in its budget for up to 377 more students. With this budget, WSU Pullman could be fully funded for up to 664 more students. With each student that WSU adds to its Pullman campus, it retains or receives $4,568 of the budget allotted by the Senate. This effectively provides funding for each individual new student, a concept that WSU finds workable. House Democratic negotiators have generally taken a different approach, providing WSU with enough funding to add up to 564 students. It will be up to House and Senate negotiators to determine the final outcome.
Senate Budget Provides Additional Growth for Up to 151 Students At WSU Vancouver. The Senate budget allows WSU Vancouver to receive and keep funding for each of up to 151 students more than its current enrollment of 970. With each student that WSU Vancouver adds to its campus, it receives or retains funding of $9,880. The latest known House approach would not fund each individual student but would commit funding for about 101 new students at WSU Vancouver. WSU finds both funding approaches acceptable but, for Vancouver, it tends to favor the Senate approach.
WSU Spokane Could Grow by 169 Students With The New Senate Budget. The Senate budget allows WSU Spokane to retain or receive funding for each of up to 169 students more than its current enrollment of 432 graduate and professional students. House negotiators would commit funding for about 119 new students at WSU Spokane.
WSU REACTION TO LEGISLATIVE BUDGET POSITIONS
WSU applauds the latest revision of the Senate budget. It is very significant that both House and Senate Democrats have produced supplemental operating budgets that are workable for the university, and continue to make higher education a funding priority under Initiative 695. The university appreciates that "all or nothing" enrollment provisos are not a part of current negotiating positions. The Senate uses a philosophy of paying institutions for the students that enroll, which could result in up to $4.5 million in new funding to WSU and provides maximum growth for WSU Vancouver. The House Democratic negotiating position accepts $1.4 million in voluntary WSU enrollment reductions, gives the university maximum flexibility to spend the money without detailed provisos, and allows the university`s funding level to grow by about $2.9 million. The House Democratic proposal provides for $272,000 in critical funding for a South Pullman Campus Electrical Facility that is not contained in the latest Senate budget. Both fund a new boiler for the Pullman power plant and provide $450,000 for the Spokane Health Sciences Initiative.
This update is shared by fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as state government developments occur regarding the 2000 Legislative Session. Contact Karen Fischer, 509/335-6665 to receive a copy. Call Larry Ganders at 360/956-2165 or send him a short pager message via e-mail to 3607863527@page.metrocall.com. From WSU Campuses, Dial 8-2165. e-mail: Ganders@energy.wsu.edu. Call Jane Yung in Olympia at 360/956-2164 or page her at 360-956-8500. For bill status and other info, visit our web page at www.olympia.wsu.edu.
