News and Updates

The House of Representatives is debating the 2007-09 operating budget which is the last piece of legislation that this legislature will pass before they adjourn later this evening.  Speeches are breaking down along predictable partisan lines.  Democrats are praising the budget’s spending on schools, social services and the environment.  Republicans are decrying the huge increase in overall spending.  Members look tired and ready to go home.  I know I am.

As you can tell from reading the State Relations summary of the 2007 session, the University has fared very, very well.  I’m proud of what we have been able to accomplish this session and I am confident we have laid the ground work for future successful sessions.  I do want to take moment to thank just a few people who were instrumental in our efforts this year.  First, my right and left hands, Karin Yukish and Teri Blair who are my two assistants.  I cannot do what I do without their diligence, support and yes, boatloads of patience.  Second, my partners in Olympia, Mike Woodin and Amy Bell, who toil daily by my side to advocate on behalf of the UW.  Their wise counsel and political talents help me immensely every single day.

Our office would not have been as successful this year without the incredible efforts of Harlan Patterson who worked both on campus and in Olympia to provide a huge reservoir of knowledge and expertise to the process.  Harlan, thank you for everything.  And kudos to the entire team in the Office of Planning and Budgeting (especially Gary Quarfoth, Amy Hanson, Phil Hoffman and Marilyn Cox), the Provost’s office (especially Ana Mari Cauce, Eric Godfrey, Jim Severson, Cheryl Cameron, Kay Lewis) and all the staff within the office of the Executive Vice President (especially Doug Breckel, Chris Malins, Jeannette Henderson, and Lou Pisano) who were always there with information and help when it was needed.

My colleagues in External Affairs were similarly wonderful.  Scott, Tricia, Norm, Theresa, Aaron and many, many others, I owe you big time.  And also a big thanks to my other UW Olympia partners, Jackie Der, David Lovell, JW Harrington, Bryce McKibbon and Marcus Riccelli — we were a very effective team and I enjoyed working alongside all of you.  Last but not least, leadership and support from the top is critical to what I do and I have had all that I could ever ask for from President Emmert, Provost Wise and some very involved and savvy Regents.  Thank you.

It is an honor and a pleasure to represent this school in the state capital.  All of us should celebrate the success of this session, but as is my nature, we need to soon think about how much better we can be in 2008.

We just learned this afternoon that a legend of Washington State politics has passed away.  John L. O’Brien, who represented the south Seattle area in the legislature from 1939 to 1992 passed away this morning at the age of 95.  It’s somewhat fitting that O;Brien, who spent most of his life in the legislature would pass away on the final day of the legislative session.

O’Brien was Speaker of the House for eight years and was considered one of the most powerful leaders in state history.  The House office building in Olympia is named in his honor.  O’Brien was also a skilled parliamentarian.  As I write this, House members are memorializing him on the floor, including Rep. Helen Sommers, Rep. Bill Grant and Rep. Shirley Hankins, the only members left in the House who actually served alongside O’Brien.

The final day of the 2007 legislative session has finally arrived.  Both the Senate and House convened at 11:00 a.m. and the Senate promptly passed a family leave bill that requires all private and public employers in the state to provide up to five weeks of paid family leave by 2009, but leaves to a future task force the more difficult questions of how to pay for it.

The Senate is expected to take up the operating budget this afternoon followed soon after by the House.  Negotiations on the WASL continue and I’m going to head back up to the capitol building to find out what’s going on there.

I hope those of you who like to follow matters in Olympia found the blog to be of interest and help this year.  I welcome your comments and feedback if you would like to see changes in the future.

I’ll post another entry later today after the budgets have passed the legislature.

First things first.  In the Spotlight section of the State Relations website, you will find a link to the 2007 Legislative Session Summary.  Hopefully, you will find this to be an informative summary of the operating and capital budgets for the UW as well as a summary of legislation that passed this year affecting the University and all of higher education.

The Senate has gone home for the evening but not before they passed the biennial capital budget by a vote of 46-0.  The House is still working, but debate on the WASL is as intense as I have seen it all session.  The Governor was meeting behind closed doors today with House and Senate education leaders but there is still no consensus on how to move forward.   The dreaded “special session” word has been mentioned more than once today in the rotunda, but hope remains that a consensus can be found before tomorrow’s scheduled adjournment.

The final legislative operating budget was released today at noon.  For the University, the budget ended up almost precisely where is began almost four months ago.  State appropriations of $105 million represent the largest percentage increase in taxpayer support for the UW since the 1987-89 biennium. Together with revenue from tuition and other fees, the total budget increase will put the University on track to close our per student funding gap with other Global Challenge State peer institutions to the 50th percentile within 7 years and the 60th percentile within 8 years.

By the end of the day I will post a full summary of both the operating and capital budget proposals for the UW.  Action on both budgets is expected tomorrow, the final day of the 2007 legislative session.

In other news today, Governor Gregoire signed the UW’s request bill (SHB 2164) which will help to limit unwanted private development within the boundaries of the UW Tacoma master plan.  Regent Fred Kiga and Chancellor Pat Spakes were joined by several Tacoma area legislators including Sen. Debbie Regala, Sen. Marilyn Rassmussen, Rep. Steve Conway and Rep. Jeannie Darneille for the signing ceremony in the Governor’s Office.

The conference report on the 2007-09 capital budget was released last night around 9:30 p.m.  Funding for UW projects was identical to the Governor and Senate budgets with more than $143 million in new state support making this the best overall capital budget for the University in a decade.  A detailed summary of the capital budget will be available later today.

The bigger surprise was that legislative capital budget negotiators have apparently decided that the answer to meeting higher education needs in the Snohomish-Island-Skagit county area is for the UW to establish a third branch campus in that area.  The University is granted the same authority to govern and operate the campus that it currently has in Bothell and Tacoma.  The UW will work with OFM between now and the next legislative session on issues related to site selection and campus formation.  A total of $4 million in new funding is provided.

Here is the lead story from this morning’s Everett Herald on the new UW campus.

The 2007-09 operating budget will be released at noon today in Olympia.

As if on cue, the weather has turned remarkably beautiful this afternoon and that generally means that the end of session is right around the corner.  “Sine Die” is Latin for “without day” and is used to refer to legislative bodies whose terms are coming to an end.  For the 2007 Washington State Legislature, that means midnight (or sooner) this Sunday April 22.

As of 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, we were still waiting for public information on the biennial capital budget which was finished yesterday.  What’s delaying matters is House and Senate conferees refusing to sign the conference report (the vehicle that they will vote on to pass the capital budget) until each chamber passes a bill important to both sides.  Hopefully, that will occur tonight and we will have certainty on our 2007-09 construction budget.

As for the operating budget, final decisions were made at noon today and we understand the bill has gone to the printer.  The plan is to sign the operating budget conference report tomorrow morning and details are expected to be available by noon.  Legislative rules require that conference reports literally rest on the bar (rostrum) of each chamber for 24 hours before the bodies can act on them.  That means voting on the budgets won’t occur until Sunday.

One issue that is now totally resolved is the higher education Washington Learns legislation.  I attended the Governor’s signing ceremony this afternoon for SB 5806.  I was joined by representatives from the Governor’s office, Council of Presidents, WSU, the Washington Student Lobby, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and several legislators including prime sponsor Sen. Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville), Sen. Paull Shin (D-Edmonds), Sen. Jerome Delvin (R-Richland) and Rep. Deb Wallace (D-Vancouver).

I will be here all weekend waiting patiently for our operating and capital budgets.  As soon as information becomes available, I will post summaries to the website so check back on Saturday and Sunday to see what’s up.