Olympia Update No.
3 for the 2003 Legislative Session
March 12, 2003
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
The
WSU agenda: Casting light under a dark dome
to
secure a bright future for Washington residents
The
Capitol Dome has gone dark
but one day it will be lit again. Electrical lights that illuminated the landmark each evening
have been cut along with all other power in the building, its dome now covered
with scaffolding and busy workers from the building trades. Its all part of the
two-year process to repair earthquake damage and renovate the capitol.
Surely it
must be some sort of metaphor for the work that lawmakers are performing on the
budget in make-shift buildings near the closed legislative building. Fiscally
speaking, these are the darkest days in more than two decades – a $2.5 billion
budget deficit that threatens to expand with another new revenue forecast. Yet,
there are those who talk of renovation and restoration of state government –
of building for the next generation. That’s been the role of the research
universities this session. WSU and the University of Washington have tried to
point to the future…hoping to convince legislators that protecting core
operating budget programs and making prudent investment in bonded construction
will secure a bright future for us all.
Mike Skinner, director of the WSU Center
for Reproductive Biology, shared the fruits from university faculty with
economic development and appropriations committees earlier in the session. He
let them taste a product made from WSU’s Rainier Cherries, showed them a
t-shirt that could be made from agricultural waste, showed a new product for
early breast cancer detection, a new fertility drug, and passed around an
industrial surge protector manufactured by Schweizer Engineering Laboratories.
President
Lane Rawlins, disappointed that he has been forced to turn away qualified
students for what may be the first time in history, has been in Olympia urging
legislators to seize the opportunity to educate thousands of bright
Washingtonians by providing adequate funding to core programs.
Decisions
are now being made that will shape those budgets. The deadline for most bills to pass out of the originating committees
in the original house came on March 10. (We’ve listed the status of key
bills affecting WSU on the web site,
just click “bill status.".)
There's also a printer-friendly
version.
In between long
sessions on the floor where legislators work to pass these bills to the opposite
house, are critical meetings on the operating and capital budget…bills yet to
be drafted that will define this state for the next two years. The state House
of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, is expected to release a budget
proposal…perhaps before the scheduled assembly of alumni from the
baccalaureate institutions here on March 26 for “Higher Education Day.”
The Operating Budget: House Appropriations Chair Helen Sommers,
D-Seattle, is seen perhaps as the
greatest ally in the cause to better Gov. Gary Locke’s proposed budget that
cut $31.4 million or about 8 percent out of Washington State University. There
are serious efforts underway in the House to secure funding to maintain students
in the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, which was racked by news that Oregon
was withdrawing its funding and students from WSU and will build a vet college
of its own at Oregon State University. There are other worthy funding proposals
outside of WSU’s core too but they are being met with resistance from the
university until it receives assurances that base programs will be protected.
Many legislators are bewildered and even a bit angry when WSU says it will not
categorically support some very worthy ideas such as additional student
enrollments in nursing, a new enology and viticulture degree program for the
wine industry, an expanded program in electrical engineering, and a new
technology institute at WSU Vancouver. The Republican-controlled state Senate,
where Sen. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, is among the key supporters, is also
wrestling with similar issues. Many members say they are trying to help higher
education but expect some efficiencies in return. An example is Second
Substitute Senate Bill 5135 by Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, which imposes a
large tuition surcharge on students who take too many classes before
accomplishing their degree. There’s also accountability legislation like
Substitute Senate Bill 5909, originally proposed by Sen. Aaron Reardon,
R-Snohomish County, which puts in place performance audits of state agencies.
Both are expected to pass the Senate and will soon be considered by the House.
Improvements
to the Capital Construction Budget Could Come With Strings Attached Too. A
proposal by former Governors Dan Evans and Booth Gardner has caught the
attention of many legislators who understand that low bond rates can allow for
additional construction of buildings at the colleges and universities. The
proposal, which has even won a late endorsement from Gov. Gary Locke could
provide adequate funding for the needs of community colleges and four-year
universities.
It could assure construction dollars in the coming decade for WSU
science buildings across the state including the WSU Biotechnology Life Sciences
Building, a new nursing building at Spokane’s Riverpoint Campus, and a Prosser
Agriculture Biosciences Building. Other WSU projects with an uncertain future
such as the WSU Vancouver Business Education Building and a WSU building on the
campus of Columbia Basin College could also become realities.
It could also
provide funding just in the next two years, as it recommends $5 million more
than Gov. Locke for WSU campus infrastructure projects. However, legislators are
indicating that for an Evans-Gardner proposal to succeed, K-12 construction must
be included and the four year universities must agree to prioritize their
projects against community college projects in ranked order. A ranking bill
sponsored by a minority House Republican, Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, will
soon come to a vote on the House floor with Democratic support.
