News and Updates

Today’s Seattle Times has an interesting story written by Nick Perry that chronicles the difficulties of some parttime community college faculty to establish successful careers due to their inability to gain full-time status.  This has been a perennial issue in Olympia and one with no easy solution as the story indicates.

Two bills which attempt to remedy this issue (SB 5514 and HB 1875) will be heard in the Senate and House higher education committees this coming week.  Both measures are similar and set goals for overall two and four year faculty compensation as well as prescribing ratios of full and parttime faculty positions at all higher education institutions in the state.

While the UW applauds the salary goals of both measures to peg faculty compensation to the 75th percentile of global challenge states, the prescriptive nature of the bills which would establish full and parttime faculty ratios down to the departmental level are simply too onerous for the campus to be able to support.  The Council of Presidents (which includes the UW) has taken a position against these aspects of the measures and will be seeking amendments to have all four year universities omitted from the bills.

Both the House and Senate versions of the University’s legislation to expand local borrowing authority passed their respective fiscal committees this week and are headed to the full chambers of the House and Senate for eventual floor action.

HB 1398 (Fromhold) easily cleared the House Capital Budget Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 21-1.  Rep. Jamie Pederson (D-Seattle) offered an amendment to the bill which removed the requirement that the University maintain at least an “A” bond rating, but added some additional reporting requirements related to the expanded authority granted in the measure.  The amendment passed by a vote of 14-8.

SB 5384 (Fraser) passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday without any changes and was sent to the Senate Rules Committee.  Both versions of the bill are receiving strong support in both chambers and our goal is to try and schedule floor action in the Senate and House within the next several weeks.

Nothing like a real “grab you” headline, right?  As you have surmised, my planned campus legislative briefing for 10:30 a.m. this morning was sidetracked by the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee which decided yesterday to schedule executive action on HB 1506 at their 10:00 a.m. meeting this morning.  This measure reauthorizes the University’s ability to use what is called “design build” and “general contractor construction management” or “GCCM” for major capital construction projects, and is one of our “high priority” bills for the 2007 legislative session.

So, let me try to use the blog to cover the main points I was going to talk about at the briefing this morning.

1.  The legislative session is officially 25% completed and so far, all is going generally well for the University.  Although some legislators have expressed mild frustration about the Governor’s overall spending level, their has been general acknowledgement that her higher education budget is the strongest in more than a decade and that “now is the time” to make these kind of investments.

2.  The tone among legislators in “one-on-one” meetings and in committee hearings has been more positive for higher education that I have seen in my three years representing the UW.  Higher education has been granted greater “airtime” in the fiscal committees to present our budget and policy priorities, and questions and comments from individual legislators have been more supportive and less hostile than in the past.

3.  While the debate over the Alaskan Way Viaduct has certainly dominated the headlines in the press and been the subject of most Olympia hallway conversations, it has not distracted legislators from spending most of their time in committee meetings on education.  Washington Learns and it’s focus on early learning, K-12 and higher education continues to dominate the budget and policy discussions.  In fact, watch for more attention on the WASL issue in the coming weeks as the Viaduct moves off the front pages until after the special election in Seattle on March 13.

4.  The overall budget situation continues to improve.  Major entitlement programs which drive more than 50% of all general fund expenditures are trending downward, meaning that even without additional revenues, the legislature will have more money to spend on their individual priorities, decreasing the risk that the Governor’s higher education budget will have to be substantially reduced.

5.  Over the next few weeks, committee action will increase as they rush to hear and pass bills before their cutoff deadlines.  Fiscal chairs have begun evening meetings on the budget as they anticipate the next revenue forecast on March 15.

Since I won’t be there in person to answer questions this morning, feel free to email me your questions and I’ll try to respond as legislative business permits.

The “dog days” of session are upon everyone in Olympia as Senate and House committee meetings are in full swing with dozens of bills scheduled for public hearings each day.

A bill to limit tuition increases to inflation (SB 5013) will be heard this afternoon in the Senate Higher Education Committee.  Expanded waiver authority for Central Washington University and establishment of a new math and science college scholarship program are among the measures scheduled for hearings in the House Higher Education Committee on Monday afternoon.

Both House and Senate labor committees will hear companion measures on Tuesday afternoon which would permit professional staff at the University to affiliate with a union.  On Wednesday morning, the House Higher Education Committee will focus on workforce development issues in a work session while the Senate Higher Education Committee continues working on gubernatorial appointments.

The University’s report on the future of Washington’s forests and forest industrieis will be presented at a meeting of the House Capital Budget Committee on Thursday morning.  Throughout the week, State Relations staff are meeting with individual legislators and committee staffers to promote the Governor’s operating and capital budgets for the University.

The University’s request legislation to expand our local borrowing authority (HB 1398 and SB 5394) received public hearings this week in the House Capital Budget Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee respectively.

State Treasurer Mike Murphy appeared in person at both hearings to support the proposed legislation, praising the University’s debt management capabilities and overall superb track record of financial management.  University staff including Harlan Patterson from the Provost’s office and Doug Breckel and Chris Malins from the Treasury Office presented the bill at both forums.  Both Washington State University and the Governor’s Office of Financial Management signed in supporting the bill.

The House Capital Budget Committee is expected to take action on the bill tomorrow and send it to the full House for consideration.  Senate Ways and Means Committee action is expected sometime next week.

Week four is here and the number of bills affecting higher education has shifted into a faster gear.

A lot of my office’s energy during the next several weeks will be employed analyzing and testifying on various pieces of legislation, and working to perfect some “problem” bills through the amendment process.

To help you keep track of the most significant bills affecting the University of Washington, keep checking back periodically to the State Relations website to check the link for “Bills of Significant Interest.”  Important information on the status of each bill along with the University’s position will be updated every few days during the legislative session.

If you spot errors or corrections, please let me know so we can make the necessary changes.  If there are other bills that you think should be added to the list, please contact me by email and we can discuss whether or not to add it to this list.

This has been a busy week for higher education in Olympia and one where the UW has been a highly visible presence in the state capitol.

President Mark Emmert has been in town twice; once on Tuesday for meetings with the Governor, key legislative leaders and other higher education presidents, and again this afternoon before a meeting of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee.  Several UW faculty members have also appeared this week to testify on issues ranging from global warming to autism.

At last night’s meeting of the House Approprations Subcommittee on Education, Jim Rawlins from the Office of Admissions and Emile Pitre from the Office of Minority Affairs gave a well-received presentation to legislators on UW achievements in outreach and retention programs.  At this morning’s House Higher Education Committee hearing, Harlan Patterson from the Provost’s office will make a presentation on research university governance.

Our student representatives have also been extremely active, both in individual meetings with legislators and testifying on a variety of higher education measures.  Monday’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer featured an excellent story on student lobbyists, including our GPSS rep Marcus Riccelli and ASUW rep Bryce McKibbon.

Many of you may think that a UW lobbyist gets by on just a pretty face and a clever wit — but you would be wrong.  It also helps to have some working knowledge of the political process.

While the last time I sat in a UW political science class the number one show on television was The Waltons, I believe I have managed to accumulate enough knowledge since then to be considered a “pundit” of some reknown.  So, it was exciting to see that in this week’s Seattle Times “State of the Union Trivia Contest” your intrepid Director of State Relations managed to finish tied for second place out of 1,200 entries.

Don’t believe me?  Here are the official results.  No word yet from the Blethen family regarding the bevy of prizes I am sure to be showered with.  Here is the official story on the contest results from David Postman, the Times chief political reporter.

Hearings on a variety of higher education bills and work sessions on higher education before Senate and House fiscal committees headline a busy third week of session for the UW.

Today, both the Senate and House Higher Education committees will hold public hearings on legislation covering such topics as tuition waivers for the children and spouses of fallen or injured veterans and a new scholarship program to help foster care children attend college.

On Tuesday, President Mark Emmert will be in Olympia all day for a regular meeting of the Council of Presidents, including a meeting with Governor Gregoire.  The President will also hold several one-on-one meetings with legislative leaders and meet with The Olympian’s editorial board.  Tuesday is also Washington BioScience Day in Olympia, an event coordinated by the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.

On Wednesday the House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on financial aid programs and hear a presentation on the recently enacted “Husky Promise.”  That evening, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education will hold a work session on higher education which will include an overview of Washington Learns as well as a presentation by the UW on outreach and retention programs.

On Thursday, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for recently appointed UW Regent Kristianne Blake.  The House Higher Education Committee will hold a work session on governance which will include a presentation by the UW on our Board of Regents.  The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a work session in the afternoon on higher education which will feature panel presentations by student leaders and faculty representatives as well as a panel of higher education presidents including the UW’s Mark Emmert, Karen Morse from Western Washington University and Les Purce from The Evergreen State College.

A lot of what happens in Olympia during the first few weeks of session isn’t really all that glamorous.  Lots of meetings, committee hearings and endless walking between buildings in the rain (and snow) often leads to a familiar monotony.  You nod to legislators, staff and other lobbyists as you rush from one place to another in constant search of a warm, dry spot to make your cell phone call.

That’s why it’s always a nice break from the regular routine to have some high drama play out right in front of your eyes.  This week’s debate over the Alaskan Way Viaduct truly had the town buzzing because it is so rare to see such hard-lined positions materialize this early in the session.  Everyone is speculating about the “end game” and that keeps the hallway and cafeteria conversations lively and more interesting than the fortunes of our men’s basketball team (which I am forced to defend on a daily basis).

Similarly, yesterday’s appearance by Seattle Supersonic’s Vice President Lenny Wilkins at a hearing of the Senate Ways and Means Committee only served to prove that grown men and women are really little children at heart.   Staffers and lobbyists with little affiliation with the Sonics request for state assistance for a new arena could be seen popping in and out of Senate Hearing Room 4 straining to catch a glimpse of the legendary coach and player.  Yes, even I managed to sneak a peek.

By next week it will be back to the usual routine and usual conversation as the snow has melted and a familiar drizzling rain has settled in over the Olympia skies.  But today, we can have fun speculating endlessly over a tunnel, elevated structure, or nothing at all and whether the Sonics arena will be in Renton or Bellevue, or maybe even Oklahoma City.