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Olympia Update No.
9 for the 2004 Legislative Session
April 1, 2004
From: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President
925 Plum St. SE - Building 4, P.O. Box 43165, Olympia, WA 98504-3165
No Fooling:
Governor signs $31.6 million for Spokane
Academic
Center today, Vetoes Pullman
Wastewater Project
A new
five-story library and classroom building for Washington State University at
Spokane’s Riverpoint campus received final approval on “April Fools Day,” by
Gov. Gary Locke, clearing the way for possible construction to begin in May.
The
action that will provide Riverpoint’s first permanent library building came as
the governor wrapped up his consideration of bills today, including the
supplemental capital construction budget and the supplemental operating budget.
The governor was threatening to veto the Riverpoint Project at the close of the
legislative session but said in a written news release that he was swayed by
arguments from several key Spokane Democrats including Senate Minority Leader
Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.
The project, WSU’s highest legislative priority, also
benefited in the Legislature from strong support from Spokane-area Republican
legislators, Mayor Jim West, Avista Corp., and the Spokane Regional Chamber of
Commerce. As an indication of the project’s bi-partisan strength, several
congressional candidates from both parties seeking the position being vacated by
U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt figured prominently in the effort. State Sen. Larry
Sheahan, R-Rosalia, put the project at the top of his capital priority list to
Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, who coordinates Senate capital budget efforts.
Another Republican contender, Todd Mielke, lobbied the issue for the chamber.
Former state House Minority Leader Cathy McMorris, R-Colville, was an early
supporter for the House capital budget, in part because of its inclusion of the
Spokane Academic Center. Spokane businessman Don Barbieri, a Democrat seeking the same congressional
seat, was among those credited by Locke for securing his support.
Unexpectedly, the
governor vetoed a legislative appropriation of $3.4 million to WSU for a new
Wastewater Treatment Plant. The action by the governor means that a WSU project that would have
recycled 1.3 million gallons of water per day is now on hold. The WSU request
was a reaction to a Pullman-Moscow water table that is dropping by 12-18 inches
per year. The $3.4 million would have made necessary additions to the Pullman
Sewage Treatment Plant that would eventually allow clean effluent to be used for
irrigation for landscaping and crops in the Pullman area.
With effluent used for
irrigation, the university would have had less demand for well water, thus
easing the stress on the water table levels. Late last year, the governor’s
budget office recommended the same $3.4 million but forbid the state from
providing additional funds, arguing that such funding should be provided to the
City of Pullman through federal sources. “The university should explore and
attempt to secure alternative funding that is consistent with a completed
comprehensive project plan,” the governor wrote in his veto message.
The
university was disappointed in the veto, since the Legislature had provided for
a study of alternative funding options while the project moved forward. Funding
for the project had been strongly advocated by the 9th District
legislative delegation: Sheahan, Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax, and Rep. Mark Schoesler,
R-Ritzville.
Even with the abrupt
cancellation of the wastewater project, WSU still realized one of its best
supplemental capital budgets. The appropriation for the Spokane Academic Center is by far the
largest higher education appropriation in the supplemental capital budget (ESHB
2573,) accounting for nearly one-fourth of about $110 million allocated for
colleges and universities.
The next largest project was $19.4 million for a new
instructional building at Grays Harbor Community College.
The Academic Center will provide new capacity for over 800 new full-time
students in Spokane.
The capital budget also kept intact a late agreement on WSU lands around
the Puyallup research station that will keep 22 acres under WSU ownership but
allow sale of another 20 acres to make urgent repairs and improvements to the
station.
The governor scrutinized the agreement but implemented a veto that only
made minor technical changes.
Governor blocks private
institutions from competing for high-demand enrollments.
A final 2004 supplemental
operating budget (ESHB 2459) that provides $3.6 million in additional
high-demand enrollments for colleges and universities was signed into law today.
However, the governor made a controversial selective veto of provisions that
would allow private institutions to compete for funding that has been
historically provided for public institutions.
Senate Higher Education Chair Don
Carlson, R-Vancouver, was among those disappointed in vetoes in the budget and a
related higher education measure, SHB 3103. He said the proposal would have
allowed the private institutions to provide programs to Vancouver in areas like
nursing where WSU and other public institutions are full to capacity. WSU and
other public four-year institutions supported the veto. The governor agreed. “In
this time of fiscal restraint, we should first direct our limited state
resources to providing opportunities for students to fill existing capacity in
public institutions before allowing private independent institutions to compete
for state enrollment funds.”
In a move that was not urged by the universities,
the governor vetoed budget-mandated studies of the WSU Vancouver and UW Bothell
campuses. That action will now focus planning for WSU’s newer campuses in
Vancouver and Tri-Cities through Substitute House Bill 2707, which did not
contradict the Vancouver budget language vetoed by the governor. That should,
however, give community leaders a single set of guidelines for making
recommendations on the future of the campuses. SHB 2707 has been signed.
