Olympia
Update No. 9 • April 2, 2008
Governor's final budget action
From: Larry Ganders, Assistant to the President
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Gregoire vetoes child care funding, counselors
Gov. Christine Gregoire surprisingly used her red pen Tuesday on the state
higher education budget, marking out more than $1 million in child care
supplemental budget funding won in the Legislature last month by university
student lobbyists.
Half of the $1 million was earmarked to care for children of students attending
four-year institutions including Washington State University.
The governor made more vetoes to the higher education budget Tuesday than had
been done by a state executive in many years.
A second surprise veto
eliminated new mental health counselors approved by the Legislature for WSU and
other four-year institutions. The mental health counselor appropriation of $77,000
was the last surviving portion of a $3 million request sought by WSU to upgrade
campus safety in the wake of violent incidents at Virginia Tech and Northern
Illinois University. The governor said campus safety efforts must now be
considered in the 2009 Legislative session that convenes next January.
Other vetoed WSU budget
enhancements approved by the Legislature in the session ending March 13 include
funding for the Renton Small Business Development Center ($50,000) and the Urban
Integrated Pest Management program for public school districts ($145,000.)
The veto actions occurred on Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2687, the 2008
supplemental operating budget, a tune-up to last year’s biennial budget. She
eventually signed the bill Tuesday, but only after marking out many items.
The vetoes to a
supplemental budget that already contained historically small enhancements were
part of a strategy by the governor to achieve an overall state biennial budget
reserve of $850 million.
Some economists believe that a slowing of the state economy, particularly
in real estate excise tax collections, could leave the 2009 legislative session
with a deficit to continue the current budget.
Surviving WSU enhancements that were not vetoed
include a $1.6 million technical correction for WSU, a Vancouver deaf education
program, additional funding for the UW-WSU William Ruckelshaus Center, community
technology grants, and greenhouse gas emissions program. Additional funding for
the university star researcher program was also signed. WSU’s 2007-2009 budget
was revised in the final supplemental to $503.4 million, $2.8 million in
additional program enhancements. The $2.8 million is more than the $1.8 million
proposed by the governor and compares with $3.1 million passed by the
Legislature, $4.5 million originally proposed by the Senate, and $2.1 million
originally proposed by the House. The final budget leaves in place the base
biennial 2007-2009 budget passed by the Legislature last year, considered among
the best higher education budgets in state history.
Child Care Was ASWSU’s Priority
The million-dollar child
care budget veto Tuesday was initially seen as an April Fool’s joke by student
lobbyists, who were very optimistic after witnessing Gov. Gregoire sign the enabling
legislation for child care funding (Substitute House Bill 2582) last week.
Once appropriations are made in the budget (ESHB 2687,) the enabling
legislation provides for a new process of allocating funding to universities
based on matching support from student government service and activities fees.
WSU supported the enabling bill in legislative committees but urged that without
additional funding in the budget, the effect could actually be a slight drop in
small state funding provided to care for the children of university students.
There had been no signals from the governor or her staff since the signing of
the enabling bill.
In her veto message, the governor reaffirmed support for the new process.
“However, expanding…the programs from $100,000 per year to $1.1 million should
be evaluated in the biennial budget process when it can be reviewed in context
with existing child care programs,” Gregoire said in her veto message. In other
words, proposals of that magnitude should be considered next year.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Chris Reigelsperger, who worked in Olympia this
session for the Associated Students of Washington State University.
Reigelsperger said additional funding for child care centers was the highest
priority of ASWSU and President Kasey Webster this
session. Reigelsperger is a graduating WSU senior communications and said like
him, most of the student lobbyists who make up the Washington Student Lobby will
not be back in Olympia next year. But he predicted the student lobby’s next
class of students will make it an issue in 2009.
The Olympian newspaper reported today that the $1 million child care veto was
part of $15 million in total funding passed by the Legislature in the
supplemental budget budget that was vetoed yesterday.
The governor’s budget office reported that vetoes to higher education account
for about $3 million. Other higher education funding passed by the Legislature
but now nixed by the governor’s budget vetoes include University of Washington
fellowships in overseas trade offices, a UW state climatologist, UW Hood Canal
oxygen levels, The Evergreen State College sex offender data study, Western
Washington University’s program for mentoring middle and high school students,
and adult literacy education for the community colleges.
No campus safety funding until 2009
There was much discussion about campus
safety this session following incidents at Northern Illinois University.
There has been considerable media attention about legislation passed on campus
safety (Substitute Senate Bill 6328) but it is doubtful any legislative actions
will result in any changes on the campuses in the coming year. The governor
herself proposed the largest safety appropriation to the Legislature last
December when she suggested one-time investments to the universities including
$1.8 million in improvements to WSU, much of it for electronic warning systems.
But the Legislature made none of those one-time investments and opted for
smaller permanent funding items. They eventually settled on a new mental health
counselor for each campus, which the governor vetoed.
“My budget proposal funded critical equipment and technology to warn students at
all campuses,” the governor wrote in her veto message. “Instead, these provisos
fund one mental health counselor for each institution regardless of size…I ask
each four-year institution and the state Board of Community and Technical
Colleges to develop prioritized lists of possible investments and any
legislation required to make student safety a priority in the 2009 session,”
Gregoire said.
WSU has been working on a package which includes permanent funding to expand
university police staffing. WSU will submit it to the 2009 Legislature.
The campus safety bill (Senate Bill 6328) that was signed by the governor
requires each institution to submit a self-study to its Board of Regents by Oct.
30. The study must assess the institution’s ability to ensure campus safety. It
also requires an evaluation of WSU’s ability to provide an appropriate level of
mental health services. A safety plan must be updated by WSU every two years.
However, the governor’s veto leaves WSU and other institutions without
additional funding for safety. A second safety bill (Second Substitute House
Bill 2507) was signed by the governor today. It calls for a study of “building
mapping” on campuses by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police
Chiefs, and the Washington State Patrol. Building mapping is an expensive
proposal that is not currently near the top of WSU’s safety priority list.
No Renton Small Business Development
Center
The veto reverses the Legislature’s decision for counseling and technical
assistance centers through Renton Technical College, part of the Small Business
Development Center (SBDC) operated by WSU. Additional offices were added in last
year’s budget and there was no WSU request for the supplemental session.
However, the Senate proposed the Renton Center in the budget, a proposal that is
now vetoed.
$145,000 Vetoed for IPM in Schools
The veto deletes WSU assistance to school districts and the Washington State
School Director’s Association in implementing integrated pest management
programs. The program, which was not a request of the university, deals with a
comprehensive approach to weed and pest control at public schools, sometimes
using alternatives to chemicals. The
issue was raised in the legislature by Assistant Majority Whip Jamie Pedersen,
D-Seattle. Pedersen chose to work through self-supporting programs in WSU
Cooperative Extension. Pedersen’s legislation, however, died in the Senate Rules
Committee while $145,000 in funding was tucked into the final conference
committee budget only to be vetoed by the governor. The funding level was well
below costs estimated by WSU.
Transfer Bill Vetoed
In other developments Tuesday, student lobbyists were also disappointed that the
governor vetoed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2783, relating to
transfer of students between institutions of higher education. “While the
legislation focuses on the right problems, efforts already exist at the Higher
Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the state Board for Community and
Technical Colleges in this area,” the governor said. The bill’s goals for a
web-based advising system can be created without the bill, the governor said.
WSU worked on the bill and believed it had been improved through the legislative
process but took no position on the final measure.
For a complete list of bills tracked by
WSU and
recent actions by the governor, go to:
http://www.olympia.wsu.edu/Status.aspx
Olympia Update is produced for persons interested
in state government developments affecting Washington State University. For more
information, go to
www.olympia.wsu.edu. Contact: Larry Ganders, Assistant to the
President, 360-956-2165. From WSU campuses, dial 8-2165. If you wish to
subscribe to Olympia Update directly by email go to
www.olympia.wsu.edu/Update.aspx
