March 14, 2002
Budget debate goes down to wire
The 60-day Legislative session in Olympia ends today after a flurry of activity that will impact the University.
The budget that finally passes will inflict some of the cuts that were expected since before the session started. Separate Senate and House proposals came out last week and a compromise was reached late Tuesday. The compromise budget was awaiting a vote in both chambers when University Week went to press on Wednesday.
The compromise budget includes a 5 percent, or $18 million, cut to the UW’s operating budget and no pay increase for state employees.
The House had initially supported a 2 percent hike to begin on Sept. 1.
The budget does, however, provide about $2.8 million for recruitment and retention funds. That money can be used for instructional and research faculty, exempt professional staff, academic administrators, academic librarians, counselors, some teaching and research assistants, and some nonclassified staff.
Another key component of the budget was giving more tuition authority to the state’s colleges and universities. Since 1999, the Legislature has given “up-to authority,” meaning local governing boards could raise tuition up to a level established by lawmakers. Both chambers supported altering that somewhat.
The compromise budget places the limit at a 16 percent increase for resident undergraduates. There is no limit for nonresident undergraduate, graduate, law and professional programs. All tuition levels will be determined by the Regents.
UW officials said it was too early to say how the final budget will impact the internal budgeting process that can begin in earnest as soon as the Legislature passes the compromise budget.
“At this moment, there are significant differences between the Senate and House budgets,” said Vice Provost for Planning and Budgeting Harlan Patterson. “We will need to wait for the final passage of the compromise budget before we get specific about the possible implications for the campus budget.”
Another key part of the initial Senate proposal was the elimination of $7.2 million in subsidies for nonresident graduate students and an additional $4 million cut on top of the operating budget reduction. The UW has argued that graduate-level education should not be singled out for cuts.
Three bills passed as the session wound down and were awaiting Gov. Gary Locke’s signature as UWeek went to press:
- The TA collective bargaining bill will give bargaining rights to teaching assistants.
- A bill that would extend the probationary period for police officers on campus passed both chambers. Currently there is a one-year period beginning on the date of hire. Much of that year is spent in training, including a 720-hour stint in the state’s police academy. This measure will start the probationary period after graduation from the academy, giving agencies like the UWPD more time to evaluate new employees.
- Finally, the rules of collective bargaining for civil service workers, including most unions on the UW campus will change, giving unionized staff a new system for bargaining.
A faculty collective bargaining bill that would grant bargaining rights over wages, hours and working conditions apparently won’t pass in this session. Lawmakers could not agree on language, which included a last-minute amendment forcing a choice between faculty governance and unionization.
