The Senate unveiled their capital budget proposal today with funding for all of the UW’s major priorities:
- $58M for phase 2 of the Magnuson Health Sciences Center renovation and replacement. The Center is the primary teaching space for the UW’s six health science schools and new facilities will promote innovative, multidisciplinary learning.
- $28.7M to design and renovate Anderson Hall, which was constructed in 1925 and has an antiquated learning environment that lacks adequate classroom and collaborative spaces for the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.
- $9M to design and construct phase 2 of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House. wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ is a learning and gathering place for the UW’s American Indian and Alaskan Native students, faculty, and staff and a center for sharing the knowledge of Northwest Indigenous peoples.
- $5M to design the modernization of chemical sciences in Seattle. Built in 1937 and 1957, current facilities for chemistry, materials science, and chemical engineering do not meet the requirements for interdisciplinary, modern science education and research.
- $7.7M for land acquisition at UW Tacoma to accommodate future growth.
- $13M for the behavioral health renovation of UW Medical Center-Northwest. This project provides an additional 25 90/180-day long term civil-commitment beds to help meet the state’s behavioral health care needs.
In addition, $7.5M for the UW Clean Energy Testbeds was allocated from the state’s Climate Commitment Account.
The Office of State Relations greatly appreciates the significant investments included in the proposal for the UW, as well as the bipartisan work that went into crafting it. Thank you for your leadership and support, Chair Mark Mullet, Ranking Member Mark Schoesler, and Senators Yasmin Trudeau, Ann Rivers, and Judy Warnick. To view the entire budget bill and summary and project lists, click here.
The Senate is scheduled to release their draft operating budget Thursday and the House is expected to unveil their operating and capital budget proposals early next week. After, budget leaders in the House and Senate will negotiate the final compromise budgets, which must pass both chambers by April 23.
The Washington State Economic Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) also published their quarterly economic and revenue forecast today. The report projects the state’s General Fund revenue will increase by $194 million for the remainder of the current biennium (2021-23), but will decrease by $438 million for the upcoming 2023-25 budget cycle. Although slowing, it also shows that consumer price inflation remains high, particularly in the Seattle metropolitan area. The legislature will take these most recent findings into consideration when drafting the state’s final compromise budgets.
For a detailed summary of the March revenue forecast, see the UW Office of Planning & Budgeting’s most recent blog post. More information can also be found on the ERFC’s website.