The Washington State Legislature is quickly approaching the end of the 2026 Legislative Session, scheduled to conclude on March 12th. Both chambers of the Legislature recently released budget proposals.
Impacts on UW
Both the Senate and House budget proposals reduce state funding for UW by $85.6 million. The proposals then backfill that with UW Building account funds, which are backfilled by state bonds. It basically shifts funding from the state’s capital budget to the operating budget. This is expected to be a one-time shift.
To fund the operating budget of the new Center for Behavioral Health and Learning, UW requested $18.34 million, as the State had previously committed to full funding of the civil commitment beds. The Senate proposal includes $15 million in ongoing support, while the House provides $15 million in one-time funding.
The House capital budget proposal would use Climate Commitment Account funds for Phase 1 of the Power Plant Electrification and Campus Hot Water Loop project. The Senate’s budget proposal would not.
Both budgets would increase the amount that other State agencies could charge UW, including Workers’ Compensation and the Office of Financial Management.
Compensation and Benefits
The State currently only covers a portion of salary increases, and only for state-funded employees. This budget proposal does not modify the 2% increase authorized in the underlying biennial budget. These increases present funding challenges given across-the-board cuts in the underlying budget, additional smaller reductions, and the cost to non-state-funded positions.
The monthly employer health care contribution caps would go down from the current $1,350 in both budget proposals. The caps would drop to $1,337 under the House proposal and $1,334 under the Senate proposal.
For more information, please visit the Policy, Planning, and State Operations Brief on the budget proposals at:
House and Senate Proposed 2026 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets