Olympia Updates

SENATE PASSES OPERATING BUDGET MARCH 30
BOOSTS SALARIES 3.7 PERCENT NEXT YEAR
BUT SLASHES FUNDING TO OPERATE
THE NEWLY-CONSTRUCTED STUDENT RECREATION CENTER

Five Republicans joined majority Democrats to pass a $412.1 million operating budget for Washington State University Friday, which contained substantial salary improvements over the recommendations of Gov. Gary Locke last December. Crowded into a Senate hearing room following the recent Olympia earthquake, the Senators action on the biennial budget bill (Substitute Senate Bill 5345) keeps hopes alive that the Legislature is still on track for final adjournment by April 22.

With the adoption of WSU-requested amendments in the Ways and Means Committee, WSU officials view the Senate-passed budget as an improvement over the budget recommendations of the governor. However, the Senate budget is severely flawed in that it provides no funding to operate and maintain the new Student Recreation Center in Pullman. Student leaders and university administrators are working together to restore the funding as the state House of Representatives prepares to release its budget proposal within the next two weeks.

Spending for WSU in the Senate budget is roughly at the same level as proposed by the governor, but the university favors the Senate`s approach because it puts $3.6 million more money into the university`s highest priority, salaries for its faculty and staff. The Senate budget spent $1.7 million less on a recruitment and retention pool but that was offset by $5.3 million more spending for WSU cost-of-living increases.

The Senate budget provides all state employees with a 3.7 percent salary increase next year and a 3.1 percent salary increase for the second year of the biennium. The governor`s budget provided just 2.2 percent salary increases in the first year and 2.5 percent increases in the second year. The governor`s budget did provide additional increases for community college faculty and K-12 teachers but not four-year university faculty. The Senate budget treats all state employees equally on salaries, providing $15.46 million in cost of living increasing to WSU employees, compared to $10.1 million by the governor.

The Senate budget proposal initially unveiled Thursday contained less program cuts than the governor but focused the entire $3.3 million in reductions on relatively few research and outreach programs created by the Legislature since 1989. This put the weight of the cuts on relatively few, high-profile and popular programs such as the Food and Environmental Quality Laboratory at WSU Tri-Cities, the Safe Food Initiative, wine grape research, the Advanced Technology Initiative, etc.

Agricultural and biotech businesses and organizations rallied within hours and were instrumental in getting the committee to change the requirement with an amendment offered by Sen. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia. The amendment, adopted in committee Thursday night, allows WSU to take the cuts anywhere in its system, not just focusing on agricultural research and extension. Without the amendment, the targetted programs would have lost 25 percent of their collective funding. Besides Sheahan, Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen, D-Eatonville, and Sen. Jeannie Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, worked hard for the critical budget flexibility. The governor`s proposed program cuts of $4.7 million also can be taken across the board.

The Senate achieved its lower program cuts and higher salary increases by accepting WSU`s requested $2.5 million reduction of 277 students for the 2001-2002 academic year, passing on the governor`s recommendations for $1 million for the Advanced Technology Initiative, and ...of most concern...slashing all operation and maintenance funding for the Student Recreation Center. All of these items were funding in the governor`s request.

ASWSU leaders are urging legislators to provide the necessary $1.7 million to operate the student recreation center. The SRC construction was funded by students assessing themselves a $100 per semester fee. "Students have shown their continued support of the building by using the facility nearly 5,000 times daily and more than 100,000 times total during the first two months of operation." Said Clark Brunkow-Mather, ASWSU Legislative Affairs Director.

However state legislators in both houses have been pushing for a policy to not provide operating monies for buildings that are not expressly authorized and paid by the Legislature, reversing years of precedent in which the state paid for facilities built with federal or other funds.

WSU is not disputing the need for a policy to govern future projects but urges the Legislature to not change its rules just as the student-funded recreation center is completed and is operating. Senate Ways and Means Chair Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, rejected attempts to restore funding but said she will explore other solutions for the problem.

This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as state government developments regarding the 2001 Legislative Session. Contact Michelle Delaney, WSU Government Relations, 509/335- 6292 to be added to the list. Call Larry Ganders at 360/956-2165; From WSU Campuses, Dial 8-2165. e-mail: Ganders@energy.wsu.edu. In the Seattle area, call Jane Yung at 425-373-9090. On federal relations issues, contact Kristi Growdon at WSU West, 206-219-2424. For bill status and other info, visit our improved web page at www.olympia.wsu.edu.