Olympia Update No.
11 for the 2002 Legislative Session
March 10, 2002
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
Click Here, For the latest status of legislation affecting WSU
The Final 4 of State Budgets?
Lawmakers try for a Thursday deadline.
The 2002 Legislature charges into this week with the stated intent of
beating the buzzer for the Thursday statutory adjournment deadline. Many doubt
these are the final four days. But if they are, the week will decide much for the research universities.
The state Senate Saturday passed a supplemental operating budget on a largely partisan 26-23 vote that cuts WSU far deeper (9.3 percent, compared to 5.6 percent by the House) than anything supported by House leaders or Gov. Gary Locke. It cuts $7.5 million more out of the WSU base budget than the House, and the Senate also targets graduate students for reductions and tries to protect other university programs. The Senate provides no salary increases to university employees, although salaries for community college faculty are raised 3.6 percent.
The House budget, substitute House Bill 2460, cleared a key hurdle by passing the House Appropriations Committee Friday night. The stage seems to be set for final negotiations.
For the capital construction budget, the House Democratic leadership proposes $4.5 million in additional jobs-creating programs throughout the state. But opposition from House Republicans, who are crucial to pass the bonds, could put that proposal in jeopardy (House version of Senate Bill 6396.) WSU is strongly supporting House budget
versions, both capital and operating.
Bargaining bills are driving toward the governor's signature.
There is now less drama on collective bargaining bills for classified staff, university faculty and University of Washington graduate students. They seem destined to become law.
The state-wide collective bargaining bill for classified state employees (Substitute House Bill 1269), defeated many times over the years, passed a historic milestone Thursday by clearing the state Senate on a 29-19 vote that may have been much closer than the final tally indicated. Look for the House and Senate to clear up minor differences on the bill and send it to the governor, who is anxious to sign it.
The bill will focus salary and benefit negotiations for all state workers at a central bargaining table in Olympia that the Legislature may only accept or reject. The bill will create some additional operating budget pressures for WSU,
as the institution will now have to hire additional personnel to deal with bargaining and other labor issues.
Another historic vote has come on Second Substitute House Bill 2403, a collective bargaining bill for university faculty that passed the Senate 27-22 Wednesday and had earlier been approved by the House 53-44. It is unlikely WSU faculty will use the bill as the Faculty Senate rejected the measure but it will provide the framework for bargaining at Eastern Washington University and elsewhere.
Likewise, Engrossed Substitue House Bill 2540, enabling legislation for teaching and research assistants at the University of Washington, has passed the Senate 25-22 and has been delivered to the governor's desk.
Non-resident and Graduate Tuition Legislation changed on Senate floor.
An amendment on the Senate floor has apparently dashed efforts to have non-resident and graduate tuition rates set by institutions (Senate Bill 5770. ) The amendment limits tuition increases in future years to a maximum of 10 percent. The bill has no bearing on resident student rates in the coming year as that will be set in the budget, probably in the 14-16 percent increase range.
Mandatory waiver reductions in the bill, which would have hit graduate students hard, have been deleted but the amount of money cut remains as does budget language urging elimination of graduate subsidies.
The House has not acted.
Timber substitution changes die on the Senate calendar.
Efforts by a coalition of trust land beneficiaries, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction and WSU, have failed in the Senate. Second Substitute House Bill 2307 and Senate Bill 6257 would have allowed more Washington mills to bid on timber coming off state trust
lands. The proposal is estimated to return millions of dollars more to WSU construction projects. The House voted 77-20 for the concept. However, Senate leadership refused to bring the matter to a vote.
There is language in the Senate budget, however, which may allow WSU to convert some of its timber lands holdings into cash to make higher-returning investments.
A bill allowing universities to bond federal indirect cost monies for construction (Substitute Senate Bill 6721) has now passed both houses and should benefit UW.
Border county legislation still moving.
Legislation benefitting students on the Washington border was struggling on the House calendar.
But just hours before the March 8 deadline to clear the opposite house, the
legislation broke free. It allows continued cooperation between WSU Vancouver and Oregon institutions
and faculties with tuition reciprocity (Substitute Senate Bill 5552). This bill also extends the authority to WSU Tri-Cities and its Oregon neighbors. At this point a version of the legislation has passed each house and the outlook is good.
Rep. Val Ogden, D-Vancouver, played a critical role in moving the bill out of the Rules Committee to keep the issue alive.
Lawmakers toughen sabotage penalties.
This WSU-endorsed legislation is a reaction to the fire-bombing of UW's Morrill Hall which also
destroyed the offices of WSU Master Gardeners. Both houses have now approved
the legislation that will increase penalties for persons who attack research facilities. The outlook for this legislation, Second Substitute House Bill 1938, looks good as relatively minor differences will get worked out between the two houses.
TIAA-CREF bill in trouble.
The WSU-supported bill (Substitute House Bill 2632) tuning up TIAA-CREF provisions and seeking to clarify it as a defined contribution plan (removing minimum and maximum benefits) is in serious trouble in the Senate and is technically dead under legislative rules. This could be tied up in budget politics, however, as the sponsor of the bill is House Appropriations Chair Helen Sommers,
D-Seattle.
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. To send
Larry an e-mail page at the capitol, write to Ganders@My2way.com.
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.
