Construction bills that support four new WSU buildings at three
campuses were decided in the final hours of the legislative session
as legislators barely accomplished an on-time adjournment of the
2009 Legislature.
"We look forward to returning to
our homes, our families, and our non-legislative lives," Senate
Capital Chair Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, said in the Sunday morning
prayer on the Senate floor. The Legislature
adjourned "sine die" early this morning. Lawmakers were hopeful the
traditional latin term, which means "indefinitely", will stick. They
hope expected dips in revenue forecasts later this year will not be
severe enough to put them in special session.
The Legislature took the difficult
operating budget issues off the table Saturday and dealt with the $9
billion state budget shortfall. The compromise operating budget bill
(Substitute House Bill 1244) narrowly passed the state House of
Representatives 54-42 Friday night and then was adopted by the
Senate 29-20. It was delivered to the governor Sunday. The
House-Senate compromise operating budget is structured to reduce WSU
funding by a net of 10.4 percent or $54.2 million.
As it turned out, it is the capital
budget that Fraser negotiated and related bills that would be the
last obstacles to adjournment Sunday. After two attempts, the
capital construction bill, (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1216,)
passed the state House of Representatives by the bare minimum of
votes required to be successful. The Senate added some technical
amendments in a late 31-15 vote Sunday. The House concurred with
another 61-35 vote.
The capital budget
and supporting legislation provide funding for construction to
perhaps begin two WSU buildings this year. The $36.7 million
Vancouver Applied Technology Classroom Building construction dollars
is funded by the legislative budget. The bill also provides $6.2
million of a $10 million match necessary to begin construction of
the Global Animal Health building, Phase I.
In addition, the
capital budget provides design funds that are structured in a way to
allow for acceleration of two more new buildings, perhaps allowing
construction to begin in two years or less. Design funds for the
Pullman Veterinary Medical Research Building are provided with a
funding authority that allows ultimate construction of a $96 million
facility. Also, the new
budget provides that a $45 million Riverpoint Biomedical and Health
Sciences Building that was scheduled to begin construction in four
years. It will now be eligible for state funding to break ground in
two years.
Vancouver,
Pullman, and Spokane Buildings Move Ahead
The compromise 2009-2011 capital
construction budget is substantially smaller for WSU than the record
budget for this current biennium. About $740 million in money
usually spent in capital construction was transferred by legislators
to the operating budget. Republicans protested
the transfer from capital funds, which also were capped from revenue
downturns. A key provision is that more than $15
million in WSU building fees were retained in the compromise capital
budget for buildings at WSU. Those funds which are part of WSU
students’ tuition payments were proposed by the House to be spent
elsewhere in the operating budget. In an unusual Senate alternative
funding package adopted in the final budget, WSU student fees monies
and local funds will be retained and bonded. That will make possible
many of the projects that the compromise budget funds:
Vancouver Applied Technology
Classroom Building.
The
$36.7 million construction funding for the Vancouver building will
help meet some of the most pressing employment needs in computer
science and electrical engineering for the state.
The largest single chunk of the WSU
capital budget, it was controversial throughout most of the
legislative session. Originally proposed by the governor in her
unsuccessful state stimulus bill, the House later proposed that the
building not be funded next biennium. The Senate, however, persisted
in its support for the building.
Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, and Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver,
are credited by their colleagues in both houses for the successful
funding of the building. The House Vancouver legislative delegation
also pressed for the building throughout the session, led by Reps.
Jim Jacks, Tim Probst, Jim Moeller, and others.
The four-story Vancouver
building includes specialized laboratories, engineering classrooms,
departmental offices, general classrooms, and support spaces to
serve students in computer science and engineering. The building is
the number one state construction priority for the WSU system at all
campuses. It was recommended
by the Higher Education Coordinating Board and scored highest among
all projects by the Office of Financial Management process.
WSU
building fees are among the funds that will be bonded to pay for up
to $10 million of the Vancouver building’s costs. Construction will
likely begin this year. The final budget funding level is about $2
million below the amount requested by WSU.
A companion silicone chip
research and development facility for the Washington Technology
Center (WTC) was not funded in any legislative budgets and was not
recommended by the governor.
Riverpoint Biomedical & Health
Sciences
The appropriation in this capital budget may make possible the
long-awaited construction of the Spokane health sciences research
building in 2011. WSU’s original request was for a $250,000
pre-design. Spokane legislators led by Senate Majority Leader Lisa
Brown and Sen. Chris Marr, and supported by Inland Northwest
business leaders, convinced the Legislature to accelerate the
project by two years. This compromise budget adopts the Senate
position to provide $4.34 million is provided for design as well as
pre-design. The building
includes space to consolidate WSU health science programs, to expand
biomedical research including an animal research facility. The
Biomedical and Health Sciences facility will also strengthen
interdependent program and research connections between WSU Pullman
and WSU Spokane (the WWAMI medical program, for instance), and
initiatives associated with new federal funding, the Life Sciences
Discovery Fund and private partnerships. Total project cost is
estimated at $45 million for 86,000 square feet.
Global Animal Health, Phase I.
The Legislature’s action on WSU’s 22,840-square foot Global Animal
Health Building was timely. It came on the day when federal
officials were declared a national public health effort to prevent
the spread of a new strain of “swine flu” in the United States. The
Global Animal Health building is designed to directly assist the
mission of the state Department of Health to protect Washington
State citizens from diseases transmitted from animals to humans (for
example, bird flu, West Nile Virus, Salmonella, and other agents
potentially found as contaminants in our food supply).
WSU received $6.2 million toward the $10 million match
required by a $25 million gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. If WSU can secure the remaining $3.8 million through
private gifts or other funds, the state appropriation will make
possible construction of a $35 million building. The alternative
funding model, known as “Certificates of Participation,” was also
used for this project.
Veterinary Medical Research
Building.
This building is designed to get neuroscience, cardiac muscle and
bioengineering research and education out of crowded and antiquated
space on the Pullman campus. $7.4 million in design funding was
requested to prepare for construction in 2011-2013. The budget
authorizes that amount as well as construction of up to $95.78
million. The building is WSU’s second highest priority (behind the
Vancouver building.) The alternate funding method used for this
building might accelerate completion of the project. The university
has identified it as crucial to the success of innovative biomedical
research and high-demand undergraduate, graduate, and professional
education programs of the College of Veterinary Medicine and of
related programs and collaborators in bioengineering and animal
science. There are 35-40 faculty
biomedical researchers to be moved to this building, along with the
approximately 200 graduate students, post-docs, and technicians that
participate in the research. The faculty are among the most
successful and productive scientists at WSU. About 100 undergraduate
students per year also have their education enriched by conducting
research in these labs. Because of the health sciences emphasis,
some of these programs like sleep research work closely with WSU
Spokane scientists.
The final legislative capital
budget bill also provides minor capital preservation and programs,
funding them at $45.16 million.
Other Construction
Bills
Certificates of Participation
(Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2254.)
This bill has now passed the
Legislature and was delivered to the governor Sunday. It allows the
universities to use local higher education building and capital
project accounts for debt service payments. It specifically
references Washington State University and the University of
Washington. This provides the funding method for funding for the
Veterinary Medical Research Building and Global Animal Health, Phase
I. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Scott White, D-Seattle, has wasted no
time in urging the governor to sign the bill. “We are fortunate to
have two world class public research universities in our state with
the University of Washington and Washington State University,” White
wrote the governor.
UW-WSU Public
Works Dies (Senate Bill 5760) A
negotiated version of this bill that could help expedite projects
built by WSU with non-appropriated funds died in dispute between the
two houses. The two houses differed dramatically in their
approaches. The Senate strongly favored the proposal as a way to
more efficiently build with alternate construction dollars. The
House-passed version prevents WSU from benefitting from the bill.
The negotiated version is closer to a Senate-passed bill but
encountered strong opposition in the final days from contractor and
architect associations. The compromise would have granted UW and WSU
the authority to use a small works roster for projects up to $1
million (instead of $200,000) for non-appropriated funds. It also
allows WSU and UW general contractor-construction manager authority
for projects of more than $1 million (typically it’s used for
projects of more than $10 million on complex buildings.)
Capital Bonds Bill (Substitute
House Bill 1272). This
is legislation that provides the bonding authority to implement the
capital construction budget passed both houses on the final day of
the session. It funds more than $2 billion in projects including
most of the Vancouver Applied Technology Building and all of the
Riverpoint Biomedical & Health Sciences building. It required a 60
percent majority in each house to pass. It passed the Senate 30-15
and the House 60-36 to send the matter to the governor.
Regents Confirmed
A record eight WSU Regents were
nominated by Gov. Christine Gregoire for confirmation this session
and were confirmed by the state Senate during the 2009 session of
the Legislature that ended today.
Ted Baseler,
president and CEO of Stimson Lane Vineyards and Estates, was
confirmed to a term ending Sept. 30, 2014. (Senate Gubernatorial
Appointment 9150, Adopted 45-0 on April 22.)
Scott Carson,
president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, was confirmed for a term
ending Sept. 30, 2013. (SGA 9016, Adopted 48-0 on March 5.)
Harold Cochran,
a Walla Walla farmer and founding stockholder of Bank of the West,
was confirmed to a term ending this year on Sept. 30. (SGA 9022,
Adopted 48-0 on March 5.)
Betsy Cowles,
chairman of Cowles Publishing Company, was confirmed to a term
ending Sept. 30, 2011. (SGA 9023, Adopted 48-0 on March 5.)
Derick En’Wezoh,
an undergraduate honors student majoring in neuroscience, was
confirmed to a term ending this year on June 30. (SGA 9034, Adopted
48-0 on March 5.)
Laura Jennings,
a consultant and former Microsoft executive, was confirmed to a term
ending this year on Sept. 30. (SGA 9055, Adopted 48-0 on March 5.)
Rafael Stone,
a partner in the law firm of Foster Pepper PLLC, was confirmed to a
term ending Sept. 30, 2011. (SGA 9116, Adopted 48-0 on March 5.)
Connie Niva,
a Port of Everett commissioner and a former member of the Washington
Transportation Commission, was confirmed for a tgerm ending Sept.
30, 2014. (SGA 9140, Adopted 47-0 on March 5)
Other Business
The Health Care Eligibility Bill,
Engrossed Substitute House bill 2245
has passed the Legislature and was delivered to the governor Sunday.
It contained amendments supported by WSU including using an 80-hour
averaging rule for higher education.
A King County funding bill
(Substitute Senate Bill 6116)
that may have provided public funds for Husky Stadium and other
projects died before it could be brought to a vote of the full
Senate.
For the status
of bills
affecting WSU -
http://www.olympia.wsu.edu/Status/2009_Shortlist_SineDie.aspx
