Category: 2008 Interim

Olympia has lost another icon — longtime Rep. Bill Grant of Walla Walla (16th District) died Sunday after being hospitalized earlier in the week for pneumonia.  He had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Rep. Grant served as the Majority Caucus Chair, and it was his distinctive voice TVW viewers frequently heard announcing a “Democratic Caucus immediately.”  Rep. Grant had served in the House for 22 years; outside of Olympia he was a fourth-generation wheat farmer.

One of a handful of Democrats to represent Eastern Washington in the legislature, Rep. Grant had many friends on both sides of the aisle who valued his plain-spoken approach and his sense of humor.
You can find the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin’s story here.  Our condolences to Rep. Grant’s family and friends.

Former State Senator Barney Goltz of Bellingham passed away on Christmas Day.  The news brought back memories for those of us with more salt than pepper in our hair.

First elected to the House in 1972, Sen. Goltz moved to the Senate in 1976 where he remained for three terms, ultimately serving as President Pro-Tem.  He was a staunch advocate for higher education, having worked as Director of Student Activities at Western.  He was known for his intellect, his wit, and his ability to disagree without being disagreeable.

The Bellingham Herald has a fine tribute to Sen. Goltz, including the numerous local and state politicians who consider him a mentor.  In recent years, Sen. Goltz was a frequent visitor to Olympia where his son Jeff is a Deputy Attorney General and his granddaughters attended Olympia High School.

Barney Goltz was a public servant in the very best sense of the term.  We offer our condolences to his family and friends.

Rep. Steve Hailey of Mesa (9th District) died Sunday morning after a year-long battle with colon cancer.  First elected to the House in 2006, Rep. Hailey was a long-time rancher and a former President of the Washington Cattleman’s Association.  He recently announced plans to step down before the 2009 session began.  You can find more details  at the Tri-Cities Herald.  Our condolences to Rep. Hailey’s family and friends.

After a week of storms, both budgetary and natural, it’s great to be able to pass along a new college ranking that spotlights the UW.

In the January 2009 issue, Smart Money magazine asks the question: which colleges and universities provide the best payback to students?  To come up with their rankings, the editors took the cost to students of tuition and fees and compared it to the average salary earned by graduates.  The UW ranked number five among public schools included in the survey with a “payback ratio” of 225%.  That outranks the “payback ratio” of all of the liberal arts and Ivy League schools included in the rankings.   Overall the article underscored the growing recognition that public universities are providing students with top value in higher education — good news indeed.

The Governor just finished her press conference on the proposed 2009-11 budget and the news was as grim as predicted.  For the UW, in less than two years we have gone from the best budget in twenty years to a significant state funding reduction.

We will be posting more details later.  The quick summary of the Governor’s budget includes:

For the UW, a reduction of state funding of approximately $116 million for the upcoming biennium (13 percent)

Tuition increases assumed at 7 percent per year – however, no additional increases in fees are authorized.

Suspending pay increases for state-employees and teachers;

Other four-year colleges took similar-percentage reductions; community and technical colleges were not reduced as much.

In her press conference, the Governor said the state is facing a $5.7 billion shortfall and indicated the March revenue forecast could show a further decline.  She said the overall budget will result in 2,600 fewer state employees with significant layoffs. Her budget proposes no tax increases.

On the capital budget side, the Governor’s proposed 2009-11 budget would include state construction funding for the Molecular Engineering Building and the Joy Building renovation portion of the UW Tacoma Phase 3 project.  No state construction funding is provided for Denny Hall and Balmer Hall although authorization is provided to the UW to issue certificates of participation against building account revenues for these projects.
Pre-design funding is included for the Global Public Health and Pharmacy building, the House of Knowledge project, and future Restore the Core renovations to Miller and Anderson Halls.  In these cases, however, funding is spread over three biennia which will have a detrimental impact on the Restore the Core phasing program.

Other cuts in the proposed budget are also of deep concern, particularly to UW Medicine.  Health care and human services face substantial reductions, including major cuts to the basic health plan, state funding for public health services, and reduced service levels for other state-funded health services.

Here is a link to the budget summary document released by the Office of Financial Management.  For those who want to see the press conference it will repeat on TVW (channel 23 on Comcast systems) at noon, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. — or you can watch online at tvw.org.

We will post more details and reactions as they become available.

It may be snowy this morning in Olympia (and much of the rest of the state), but the lights are burning bright at the Governor’s office and OFM as final touches are put on the Governor’s budget release.

TVW will carry the Governor’s budget announcement live tomorrow at 9:30 with repeats scheduled for noon, 6 p.m., and 8 p.m.  TVW is channel 23 on Comcast cable systems.  You can also see the announcement on demand at tvw.org.  Tomorrow, we will be posting budget highlights here as soon as they become available.

Also, in a preview of some of the debate you are likely to hear during the session, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane, Republican Rep. Bill Hinkle of Cle Elum, and the Governor’s legislative liaison Marty Brown sparred over the budget at a legislative forum held by Greater Spokane, Inc.  You can expect the debate to heat up after the Governor puts the first hard numbers on the table tomorrow.

Two stories in the news today serve as a good reminder that the release of the Governor’s budget proposal this Thursday is just the first step in a months-long process, and that the legislature will have its own ideas of how to close the funding gap.

An article in the Olympian examines a number of proposals to expand the tax base or to eliminate current tax exemptions. The Olympian article also catalogs a series of budget-cutting suggestions submitted by the public to the Office of Financial Management. They range from the large (forcing small school districts to merge) to the small (getting rid of the front license plate on cars). In a recent speech in the Tri-Cities, House Speaker Frank Chopp weighed in with some comments on how part of the budget gap might be closed, including eliminating a number of new programs and reducing pension contributions. Expect plenty of additional suggestions from all quarters after Thursday’s budget release.
Also, 9th District Rep. Steve Hailey, a Republican from Mesa, has announced he will resign from the legislature early next year to focus on treatments for colon cancer, which he was diagnosed with in January. Local county commissioners will name a replacement for Rep. Hailey. Our best wishes to him and his family.

House leaders have announced that longtime State Rep. Bill Grant of Walla Walla has been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. In addition to serving on the Appropriations and Rules Committees, Rep. Grant was the majority caucus chair — his frequent announcements of a “There will be a Democratic Caucus immediately,” are well-known to even casual viewers of House floor action on TVW.

According to Grant’s announcement:

“I understand there are many different stories circulating around the campus concerning my absence and thought I should send you ‘the facts’.

“After recommendation from my hometown doctor, I came to Seattle to undergo a lung biopsy. The procedure is over and the diagnosis I received is a rare form of lung cancer. (The oncologist sees only two or three cases a year.) Although these are not the results I had hoped for, the good news is I have been released from the hospital and am heading home to discuss my treatment options. “Hopefully, this will answer your questions. I thank you all for your concerns and would appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers directed my way.”

Bill Grant

Rep. Grant has served in the House for 22 years and was just elected to another term. We wish him all the best.

Today’s edition of The Olympian has a strong editorial on the challenges faced by lawmakers this session and the need to maintain our investments in higher education during the downturn. The paper’s editorial board met yesterday with President Emmert. Here is a portion of the editorial:
The challenge of Gregoire and lawmakers is much the same as Emmert’s — how to trim non-essential programs that don’t cripple the university in future decades. Lawmakers’ challenge is magnified because while Emmert is focused on one university, state leaders must weigh needs at UW against needs of the whole higher-education system, and then weigh that portion of the budget against social and health services, public safety, K-12 education, transportation, and the entire state budget.

We don’t envy them their difficult challenge.

UW has a strong story to tell. Its 40,000 students on the main Seattle campus make the university the largest in the state. Add in branch campuses and evening and weekend enrollments and the total student population is close to 65,000. University paychecks go to about 35,000 people a year, making it one of the largest employers in the region.

You can read the entire editorial here.

While he was in Olympia, President Emmert also appeared on TVW’s Inside Olympia along with Charlie Earl, head of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The show airs tonight at 7. TVW is Channel 23 on most Comcast systems; the show is also available on demand at tvw.org.

The Governor’s budget is now tentatively scheduled to be released the morning of December 18. There are literally hundreds of decisions that go into the final preparation of a budget proposal, so people involved are emphasizing that it could slip a day — but not much more since state law requires the proposal to be released by December 20.

The Governor also has been tapping business, education and labor leaders for ideas as she develops a stimulus package for the session. President Emmert attended a December 8 meeting with the Governor; her stimulus package is expected mid-January.

Writing in Crosscut, Pete Jackson noted the recent decision by the UW to suspend a number of search efforts and made the case that higher education investments need to be protected as lawmakers and the Governor work to close the state budget gap.

Finally, a quick update of election results. All legislative races save one have now been settled. The Snohomish County (44th District) race between Liz Loomis and Mike Hope remains too close to call, though Hope continues to maintain a roughly 100 vote lead. The recount should be finished soon and a final victor announced next week. If Hope maintains his lead, it would be a pick-up for the Republicans and the Democrats majority in the upcoming session would be 62 to 36.