April 12, 2007
Higher ed funding looking ‘very, very good’ in Olympia
With the state Legislature entering the final weeks of the session, the outlook for higher education and UW funding appears “very, very good,” according to the University’s chief lobbyist.
“Even the Senate budget, which is in some ways a bit weaker for higher education, still provides an extraordinary amount of resources,” said Randy Hodgins, director of state relations. “Moreover, we have reasons to believe that it will be improved when negotiations with the House are concluded. We began the session with a very strong budget from the governor, and we believe the final budget will be fairly close to her original proposal.”
The major difference between the House and Senate lies in how salary increases have been funded. The Senate calls for spending a portion of local tuition to fund part of the cost of living increases for faculty and professional staff; the House would use general state funds for these increases. “The Senate approach is a major departure from how state government has treated tuition for more than a decade,” Hodgins says. “Tuition has been under local control, to be used by colleges and universities to fund improvements in education.”
All three budgets — the governor’s, as well as both houses — fund substantial enrollment increases, with the Senate calling for the most but not necessarily with the richest funding formula. The Senate would provide maintenance and operations funds for UW Tower, an allocation not found in the other two budgets. The governor and the House have allocated funds for operations and maintenance of the Research and Technology Building, but the Senate budget has not. Both the governor and the House have proposed funds for bringing research ideas to market, with no allocation in the Senate budget.
Overall, though the budgets are remarkably close. The governor’s total state funds proposal for the UW for 2007-09 is $811,624,000; the House budget is $822,244,000; and the Senate’s is $800,444,000. The percentage increase from the 2005-07 biennium ranges from 14.1 percent in the Senate budget to 17.2 percent in the House.
Capital budget proposals are also similar, with the governor calling for $143,623,000, the House $145,342,000 and the Senate $143,623,000 in state funding for new projects. Major projects funded in all budgets include Savery and Clark halls, the Playhouse Theater, the H wing of health sciences, upgrades to the data center and predesign and design for UW Tacoma Phase 3.
One major issue still on the table is what kind of higher education institution for Snohomish County will be developed. The Senate has advocated a stand-alone four-year institution, while the House prefers a branch of the UW. The community is also divided, with the Snohomish County executive lining up behind the Senate bill and the mayor of Everett supporting the House version.
Hodgins believes that the differences among the House, Senate and governor will be resolved in advance of scheduled adjournment on April 22. The major sticking point in the overall legislative process is likely to be differences between the two houses on a constitutionally-protected “rainy day fund,” with the Senate and governor in favor of this idea and the House opposed.
“Until this issue is resolved, we probably won’t see much progress on other budget issues,” Hodgins says.
