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Gov. Inslee releases proposed 2019-21 biennial operating & capital budgets

Gov. Jay Inslee released his proposed 2019-21 biennial operating and capital budgets on Thursday, Dec. 13. The proposal provides significant funding for student financial aid and the University of Washington, recognizing critical needs for foundational support, employee wage increases and student resources. The Governor’s budgets also invest heavily in the state’s behavioral health system, including planning a partnership with UW’s health science schools to increase the workforce and expand care.

Major operating and capital budget investments for the UW include:

  • $25.5M for Foundational Support to offset compensation and central services costs that exceed undergraduate operation fee revenue;
  • $16.9M for Employee Compensation;
  • $8.8M for Academic Program Enhancements and Student Support Services;
  • $2M for the Center for Advanced Materials and Clean Energy Technologies (CAMCET) facility; and
  • $70M for construction of the Health Sciences Education Building, which will be a modern, shared instructional facility for the six health sciences schools to meet demand and support innovative teaching methods.

The Governor’s budget proposal also recognized critical funding for UW Medicine:

  • $14M for UW Hospital Support to ensure Harborview and UW Medicine can continue their mission as the state’s primary teaching hospitals and “safety-net” health care providers;
  • $2M for UW Dental Support so UW Dental Clinics can also continue in their role as “safety-net” providers;
  • $2M for Mental Health Residencies; and
  • $2M to plan a state partnership with UW’s health science schools aimed at expanding the state’s workforce and clinical capacity through telemedicine and new clinical facilities.

Other notable components of the Governor’s budget include:

  • Fully funding the Washington College Promise (formerly State Need Grant) by FY22;
  • Statewide expansion of Career Connected Learning;
  • Ocean acidification response and sampling funding in connection with UW; and
  • ShakeAlert (i.e. Seismic) Monitoring Stations in coordination with UW.

The release of the Governor’s budget proposals represents the first step in a lengthy budget process. The Washington state House of Representatives and Senate will introduce their biennial budget proposals during legislative session. The 2019 legislative session begins on Monday, Jan. 14, and will end on or before Apr. 28, with the option of one or more 30-day special sessions.

To get additional details on the Governor’s budgets, click here to view the Office of Planning and Budgeting’s review.