The Office of Planning and Budgeting will have updated budget information.

Check out the Seattle Times for an overview of the legislature’s action.

Three priority bills passed during the regular session.

• House Bill 2585 provides colleges and universities more operational flexibility in order to improve efficiency.  It would give the UW administrative and operational flexibility for purchasing, procurement, human resources and reporting.  It is estimated the UW could save over $1 million annually.  HB 2585 awaits Governor Gregoire’s signature.
• SJR8223 and SB 6468 would allow investment diversification of UW and WSU operating investments. These measures could eventually generate $10-20M additional revenue annually for the UW without raising taxes.  The State Investment Board, which currently manages the state’s pension system, would have management and oversight authority over new investments.  SB 6468 awaits Governor Gregoire’s signature, while SJR 8223 will appear on the November ballot.

“The Senate budget proposal released today puts a halt to four years of public disinvestment in higher education.  The Senate is to be commended to taking this bold stance.  Investing in students and their futures charts a course towards sustainable economic recovery and is the best possible form of securing our economic future.  Higher education sets people on the path that provides a lifetime of benefits for themselves, their families, and our communities.  The Legislature needs to adopt this budget for higher education.”

The forecast for the 2013-15 biennium is predicted to be about $32.3 billion, an increase of about 6.6 percent from the current biennium.  This is the first forecast adopted by the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council for the next biennium.

Read more analysis from the Office of Planning and Budgeting.

HB 2585 passed in the House with 98 yea votes to move to the Senate.  The bill amends contract rules for institutions of higher learning in order to improve efficiency.  It would provide the University of Washington administrative and operational flexibility in areas of purchasing and procurement, capital projects, human resources and information technology.  As a result, the university would save over $1 million annually.

SB 6468 and SJR 8223 were passed out of the Senate on Monday. These bills will allow diversification of the University of Washington and Washington State University operating investments.  Since 1889, UW operating fund investments have been restricted to government-backed securities.  This restriction limits the ability to diversify university assets and reduce risk.  Annual returns have been negatively impacted by 0.8% annually over the last twenty years – approximately $11 million per year (at the current fund level).  Investment diversification would reduce the concentration of risk in a single investment instrument and allow the UW to react in a more timely way to opportunity and risk in the global economy.  It would also provide the university with an opportunity to raise additional revenue overtime, which would make available additional funding for UW’s education mission without raising taxes.  SB 6468 and SJR 8223 were referred to the House Higher Education committee and are scheduled for a hearing on Thursday.

SB 5576 would permit local management of capital fee resources – building fees, timber revenues and the metro tract – which are currently appropriated by the legislature for maintenance projects.  The current management system creates inefficiencies in the UW’s maintenance programs.  This affects the university’s ability to leverage its own bond capacity in a strategic way.  Allowing local management would create a more nimble, cost-effective maintenance program, provide the UW with additional local bonding authority to improve our credit worthiness, reduce the state’s cost of borrowing and complete capital projects.  SB 5576 passed the Senate on Saturday.

Video of the forum is available from TVW.

Legislative visit to iLabs

Steve Lerch, who previously served as interim chief economic before Raha came on board, will fill the position temporarily during the search for a replacement.

More details are available from The Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune and PublicCola.