Olympia Update No.
6 for the 2002 Legislative Session
February 22, 2002
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
For the latest status of legislation affecting WSU
Decline in State Revenues Prompts University
Presidents to Call for Enrollment Freeze
Against a gloomier
outlook for the operating budget, Former Governors Booth Gardner and Dan Evans met with Senate and House
Higher Education Committees and educators this week to discuss commissioning a private study to identify long-term
capital and operating funding solutions for colleges. While joining virtually all of the higher education community in
commending the efforts of the former governors, WSU President Lane Rawlins nevertheless expressed fears to the
committees that the study they were planning for 2003 or 2004 might turn out to be an "autopsy" if the 2002 funding outlook
doesn't improve.
This week's revised February forecast put funding down another $247 million from previous estimates.
Legislators who were preparing budgets to fill a $1.2 billion hole in state funding were now preparing for a $1.6 billion problem
when social service caseloads and other factors added to the revenue problem.
Some House leaders who were hoping to
reduce WSU's budget cut to perhaps 3 percent, from the governor's proposed 5 percent level, were now struggling to find
viable scenarios that would hold the cut to five percent. Reports coming out of the state Senate, which is to originate the first
legislative operating budget, indicated WSU cuts they will make public next week will likely go significantly deeper than 5
percent and provide no salary increases this year to any higher education employees.
Some legislators from both sides of the
aisle reacted to the news with intentions to seek new state revenues to help fill the void.
But many legislators expressed frustration that Gov.
Gary Locke had sent mixed signals this week on whether he would favor any general tax increases.
In an unprecedented
move, Rawlins and presidents of most – if not all – of the state's four-year institutions said the level of cuts now under
consideration by the Legislature meant that any planned enrollment increases for this fall must be cancelled to try to keep the
cuts at manageable levels. While WSU has been suggesting the need for the enrollment freeze to preserve quality for more
than a year, the new common position of the institutions was a major change for sister schools that had emphasized access
such as Western Washington University and Eastern Washington University.
It was a clear indication of the worsening budget
outlook for higher education. WSU and UW were indicating that tuition might have to increase up to 18 percent to offset part
of the cuts. Ironically, the news also comes at a time when demand to get into WSU and the other institutions is at an all-time
high. Hundreds or even thousands of qualified students likely will be turned away from WSU alone next fall because of
inadequate state funding. WSU appears to be on track to receive more than 10,000 undergraduate applications this year for 4,000
slots.
Senate capital budget funds major university
projects, rejects WSU economic stimulation plan
Senate leaders unveiled a supplemental capital construction budget Wednesday that protected $103 million in major
construction projects at Washington State University that were approved by the 2001 Legislature. However, the Senate Ways
and Means Committee passed the budget out of committee Thursday without any "economic stimulus" funding for the state's
four-year universities that was recommended by Gov. Gary Locke. That means $6 million worth of brand new 2002 projects
for WSU recommended by the governor is now in serious jeopardy in the Legislature.
The decision to preserve the previously-approved 2001-2003 capital construction projects, the third largest appropriation of
general fund monies in university history, nevertheless comes as a significant relief to WSU officials. Those projects appeared
to be under review by Gov. Gary Locke when the economy started turning downward last fall. Locke eventually gave the
green light to continue construction on those buildings, including the $12.4 million Shock Physics building on the Pullman
campus and an $18.5 million Vancouver Multi-media building.
However, this latest Senate budget is the first legislative budget
that reaffirms the WSU construction budget passed last year will stay intact. Other projects that will benefit from this decision includes the
proposed partnership for a new Pullman co-generation power plant and construction of a $12.6 million Addition to the Murrow
Communications Building. The governor preserved major projects by using state lottery monies to continue the buildings
despite the lowered state revenues.
The state Senate rejected using the lottery funds for higher education. Instead, the
Senate swapped cash from institutional timber trust accounts and bonded it to provide additional capacity for funding. WSU
and other universities did not object to the fund swap. However, the four-year universities were stunned by the news that they
alone were eliminated by the Senate from a Locke proposed jobs-creation package to to stimulate the economy through small
construction projects.
The Senate package included more than $26 million in new projects for community colleges, 21.2
million for Fish and Wildlife, $16.6 million for state parks, $17.5 million for Columbia River dredging, $20 million in community
projects, $8 million in public safety projects – but nothing for the universities.
President Rawlins was among officials from five
public four-year institutions that asked the Ways and Means Committee to reconsider its decision to eliminate projects for the
universities. But the committee refused and Senate leaders were pessimistic that
any new dollars could be added to the budget before the Senate passes it.
Now in jeopardy are $6.06 million in new projects for WSU recommended by the governor for Pullman and other
locations around the state. They include $1.2 million in WSU hazardous waste clean-up projects and facilities in Othello, Lind,
Wenatchee, Prosser, Central Ferry, Royal City, and Mount Vernon. A $500,000 renovation to the F.O. Berg Building in
Spokane that also houses the university bookstore was to be included. Also on the list was $1.5 million in WSU safety
projects including a $400,000 elevator projects at WSU Puyallup.
This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail to friends of Washington State University as government developments occur. Contact Kevin Ketchie, WSU Government Relations specialist, 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. Contact Jane Yung Dennie
at 360-956-2164. For federal issues, contact Kristi Growdon at 206-219-2424. For state bill status, budget updates, and other government info, visit our web page at
www.olympia.wsu.edu. Improvements have
recently been made in bill status tracking. Just go to our page and click on
"Status" in the left hand column.
