Olympia Update No.
8 for the 2003 Legislative Session
April 18, 2003
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
HOUSE DEMO OPERATING BUDGET PROVIDES
$21 MILLION
MORE FOR WSU THAN SENATE VERSION OF
THE BUDGET
BUT...THE
GOP SENATE CAPITALCONSTRUCTION BUDGET
FUNDS $17 MILLION MORE THAN HOUSE PROPOSAL
The axiom that every
member of the Legislature is a friend has never proved more accurate for
Washington State University than at this juncture in the 2003 session. Separate
operating and capital construction budgets are now on the table this week for
each house. The university finds strongest support in each political party and
each house on different fiscal budgets. Despite a nearly $3 billion budget
deficit, a relatively positive outcome for the university is possible … if only
the correct house prevails on the right budget.
The
Democratic-controlled state House of Representatives is considering an operating
budget proposal by Appropriations Chair Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, that is
substantially better for WSU than any proposal from the Republican Senate or the
Democratic governor. WSU has testified strongly in support of the proposal,
which passed out of the Appropriations Committee on a razor-thin 14-13 vote
Thursday. The Sommers bill adheres to the research universities’ principle of
protecting existing core programs. It provides $1.5 million to replace the loss
of funding to the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine as Oregon State University
withdraws students from Pullman. (The Senate provided less than $1 million.)
House cuts for WSU are $14 million and can be taken at the university’s
discretion. Instead, the Senate has $38 million in specified cuts and
transfers. The House budget presumes only a 5 percent tuition increase for
resident undergraduate students, compared to 9 percent assumed in the Senate
budget.
A reasonable implementation of tuition authority by WSU could reduce the
net program cuts to about 1.1 percent in the House budget while the university
would still sustain a 6.58 percent cut in the Senate budget. The governor’s
budget provided a 6.6 percent cut scenario using the same assumptions. The
Senate budget has no salary increases but the House provides for a single
general salary increase of 2 percent…although that will not come for another 17
months.
The Sommers proposal
is controversial, Senate resistance is strong, and House passage is not assured.
The key House floor vote could come Monday and it will be close. The controversy
swirls around proposed tax increases in the House budget. The governor and the
Senate have steadfastly resisted any tax increases. That apparently has also
limited its ability to provide adequate funding levels for the university.
For
instance, $1 million of the $1.5 million for WSU veterinary programs is provided
by the “Student Achievement Fund,” a $379 million account that derives its
revenue from a 0.2 percent general sales tax increase and a new “Five Minute
Keno” lottery program (House Bill 2947). The Senate provided $900,000 for
veterinary medicine but it does not require a tax increase. House passage of
its version of the operating budget seems certain to set up a difficult
House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences on the same bill
(Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5404.)
These discussions which would likely
begin in the final days of the scheduled legislative session appear likely to
send the 2003 Legislature into overtime…perhaps well into the month of May.
While the university
needs the House to prevail on operating budget issues in Senate Bill 5404, the
reverse is true when considering the capital construction budget.
The House
proposal was announced today by Capital Budget Chairman Hans Dunshee,
D-Snohomish, with the alarming news that the $11.16 million Cleveland Hall
Addition, the university’s number two priority for Pullman, was not funded. The
education building had been recommended by the governor and the state Senate.
There does, however, appear to be significant support in the House that could
result in Cleveland Hall being funded when a conference committee convenes to
resolve differences between House and Senate capital construction budgets.
As
expected, the House capital budget also does not include any funding for the
Spokane Academic Center, the $32.5 million building that is ready for
construction on the Riverpoint campus. Key legislators in both the House and the
Senate are continuing to press for some level of funding for that project which
is omitted from both House and Senate proposals at this point.
Altogether, the
House Capital Construction budget (Proposed Substitute House Bill 1165) provides
$95.234 million to WSU in building dollars for the upcoming biennium. The Senate
capital construction budget (currently Substitute Senate Bill 5401) originally
proposed by Sen. Joe Zarelli, R-Ridgefield provides $112.9 million. The Senate
budget passed 49-0. The House Capital Budget Committee will consider Dunshee’s
proposal for a vote Monday.
At this point, WSU
prefers the funding level of the Senate capital budget. However, Dunshee’s
proposal is strong on some of the less glamorous (but critical) issues that the
Zarelli proposal leaves in doubt. For instance, Dunshee provides $7.5 million
for Minor Capital Improvement, $8 million for Omnibus Equipment, and $4 million
for WSUnet.
That’s a total need met by the House of $19.5 million. Zarelli added
4.38 million in Senate Committee but the total is just 6.38 million to cover
those $19.5 million in needs that include laboratory and classroom renovations,
major equipment purchases, and fiber optics lines.
