Skip to content
Blog

Tag: capital

Legislature Passes 2019-21 Biennial Operating and Capital Budgets

Posted on

On Sunday, April 28, leadership in the legislature reached a compromise on the state’s 2019-21 biennial operating and capital budgets. The Governor is expected to approve these budgets, but has line-item veto power. As part of the compromise budget package, the legislature passed HB 2158, which creates a dedicated source of funding for higher education through an increase to Business and Occupation (B&O) taxes on professional services.

For a detailed analysis and comparison of the proposals, see OPB’s newest brief on this page.

The outcomes of the state operating budget will be incorporated into the UW’s Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) operating budget, which will be presented to the Board of Regents as an information item in May and as an action item in June.

Operating Budget

Some noteworthy items in the final operating budget include:

  • Competitive Compensation and Foundational Support: The UW’s highest operating budget priority for the 2019 legislative session was funding to provide competitive compensation to recruit and retain valued faculty and staff. HB 2158 provides $25 million over the biennium in “foundational support” to increase the share of state funding for new compensation and central services in 2019-21. The amounts are also sufficient to make permanent the one-time compensation funding provided last year.
  • STEM Enrollments: HB 2158 also includes funding for STEM investments at the UW, including increasing high-demand enrollments across all three campuses and maintaining the Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) program.
  • Financial Aid: The compromise budget package will increase funding for the State Need Grant, which was re-named the “Washington College Grant” under HB 2158. The new funding will reduce the program’s current waitlist by one-third in FY20 and will fully eliminate the waitlist in FY21. Starting in FY21, the program’s income eligibility threshold will be expanded to include students with a household income of up to 100 percent of the state’s median family income.
  • UW Hospitals and the School of Dentistry: The compromise budget includes additional funding to UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, and the School of Dentistry to support their role in providing safety-net care for the state. The budget also provides B&O tax parity for Harborview.

Capital Budget

The compromise capital budget appropriates $167.7 million in new state funding, $94.3 million from the UW Building Account, and $1.8 million from the Model Toxics Control Account. The final capital budget provides significant new state funding for capital projects seeking to advance state and University priorities, including STEM, behavioral and mental health, and health sciences education.

Overall, the final budget fully funds multiple UW requests and provides a substantial amount of new funding for key projects that will benefit both the UW and Washington state as a whole.

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for more updates!

 

House and Senate Proposed 2019-21 Biennial Operating and Capital Budgets

Posted on

Last week, leadership in the House and Senate released their 2019-21 state biennial operating and capital budget proposals.

The House Appropriations committee released their initial operating and capital budget proposals on March 25. The Senate Ways & Means committee released their capital budget proposal on March 27 and their operating budget proposal on March 29. As a reminder, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposals in December.

For a detailed analysis and comparison of the proposals, see OPB’s newest brief on this page.

Operating Budget

Some noteworthy items in the operating budget proposals include:

  • Competitive Compensation and Foundational Support: The UW’s highest operating budget priority for the 2019 legislative session is funding to provide competitive compensation to recruit and retain valued faculty and staff. Importantly, all budget proposals released thus far include funding to improve the UW’s share of state support for these critical new expenses. The Governor’s proposal and the original proposal from the Senate would provide sufficient funding to make permanent the temporary funding provided in the current biennium to increase the share of state support and, generally, those proposals get the closest to what is needed for this purpose in the upcoming biennium.
  • STEM Enrollments: The House operating budget would make significant investments in STEM enrollments, which would be funded by increasing Business & Occupation (B&O) taxes through House Bill 2158.
  • UW Medicine and the School of Dentistry: The House budget would make targeted investments supporting UW Hospitals and the School of Dentistry.
  • Financial Aid: All three proposals make significant strides towards fulfilling the 2018 legislature’s commitment to fully fund the State Need Grant.

The House and Senate operating budget proposals assume revenue projections provided in the March revenue forecast from the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council. All three operating budget proposals rely on significant new revenue from these forecasts as well as new revenue proposals. This includes increasing B&O taxes on professional services, instituting capital gains taxes, and/or increasing real estate excise taxes.

Capital Budget

The House’s capital budget would appropriate almost $167.7 million in new state funding for capital projects, along with $94.3 million from the UW Building Account and $1 million from the State Toxics Control Account. The Senate’s capital budget would appropriate almost $135 million in new state funding, $92.3 million from the UW Building Account, $1.8 million from the Model Toxics Control Account, and $1 million from the Community Behavioral Health Account. Governor Inslee’s capital budget proposed $72 million, $88.3 million, and $1 million, respectively.

Overall, the House and Senate proposals would fully fund multiple UW requests, but differ in their proposed funding mechanisms, amounts, and priorities. Both budgets would over-utilize the UW Building Account while providing significant new investments through state funds.

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for more updates as the proposed budgets move forward.

 

Note: The information in this post and the brief cover legislative versions as of April 1. For operating budget proposals, this means the House proposal after committee and floor amendments and the Senate proposal as originally proposed by the Senate Ways & Means chair. For capital budget proposals, the brief covers the House proposal with committee amendments and the Senate proposal as originally proposed by the Senate Ways & Means chair. Changes to the brief to reflect committee and floor changes in the Senate will be forthcoming.

Governor Inslee’s Proposed 2019-21 Biennial Operating and Capital Budgets

Posted on

On Thursday, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed 2019-21 biennial operating and capital budgets. For a detailed analysis and summary of the Governor’s proposals, please see OPB’s brief on this page.

The Governor’s operating budget assumes significant new revenue from the creation of a capital gains tax, increasing the business and occupation tax rate for professional services, and modifying the real estate excise tax.

His proposed biennial operating budget would significantly increase appropriations to higher education institutions and student financial aid. The Governor’s budgets also invest heavily in the state’s behavioral health system—including planning a partnership with UW’s health science schools to expand the workforce and clinical care through telemedicine and new clinical facilities, recovery efforts for Southern Resident Killer Whales, and steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The release of the Governor’s budget proposals represents the first step in a lengthy budget process. Lawmakers in the Senate and the House will have the opportunity to release their own budget proposals over the course of the 2019 legislative session – set to begin on Monday, January 14, 2019.

For more information regarding the UW’s current requests for state funding, please see OPB’s 2019-21 operating and capital request submissions on the State Budget Information page.

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates during the 2019 legislative session!

OPB Brief on Compromise 2018 Supplemental Budgets

Posted on

Leadership in the state House and Senate released their compromise 2018 supplemental budget proposals earlier this week—the capital proposal came out on Tuesday evening and the operating proposal on Wednesday evening.  With the release of these budgets, and with their subsequent passage by the legislature, lawmakers ended the legislative session on time, for the first time since 2014.

The compromise budgets make changes to the recently approved 2017-19 biennial capital budget, as well as the 2017-19 biennial operating budget, which was approved last June. An OPB brief comparing the compromise budgets to prior proposals from the House, Senate, and Governor is now available in the full brief.

In the coming weeks, OPB will post summaries of approved legislative proposals that were tracked by the University, as well as fiscal notes (objective estimates of a bill proposal’s fiscal impact on the University) that were completed during the 2018 session. Those will be posted on the OPB briefs page.

OPB Brief on Senate and House Leadership 2018 Supplemental Budget Proposals

Posted on

On Monday, leadership in the Senate released their 2018 supplemental operating and capital budget proposals. On Tuesday and Wednesday, leadership in the House followed with the release of their 2018 supplemental operating and capital budget proposals. The supplemental proposals include technical corrections and minor appropriation changes to the recently approved 2017-19 biennial capital budget, as well as the 2017-19 biennial operating budget, which was approved last June. They also build off Governor Jay Inslee’s proposals, which he released in December.

Please see this OPB brief for a detailed comparison of the supplemental budget proposals released thus far.

As a reminder, now that the House and the Senate have offered competing proposals, lawmakers will work toward negotiating and passing compromise budgets by the scheduled end of session, on March 8, 2018. Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates during the remainder of the 2018 legislative session.

 

 

Capital Budget Moving Through Senate

Posted on

A proposed state capital budget, SB 6090, passed out of the Senate Committee on Ways & Means with substitutes and may be voted on soon.  Last session, lawmakers came to a compromise on a proposed capital budget, but it was ultimately not passed due to a disagreement over a rural water rights issue. This proposal is the same as that proposed compromise, except it includes language proposed by the Governor before this session that would allow the UW and other agencies to be reimbursed for capital expenditures that occurred on or after July 1, 2017 in the absence of an approved capital budget last year.  A similar process is occurring in the House with HB 1075.  OPB will monitor any changes that occur on the House or Senate floor on passage of the budget(s).

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates on the legislative session, including the capital budget.

Governor Inslee’s 2018 Supplemental Operating and Capital Budgets

Posted on

Governor Jay Inslee released supplemental operating and capital budget proposals on Thursday. For more information, please see OPB’s brief. The Governor’s operating budget proposal includes technical corrections and minor appropriation changes to the current 2017-19 biennial budget (fiscal years 2018 and 2019). Because the legislature did not pass a capital budget in 2017, the Governor’s capital budget is a two-year budget covering the entire biennium.

Despite moderate growth predicted in the November Revenue Forecast, lawmakers in Olympia face significant challenges. Most notably, the Washington State Supreme Court recently ruled that the legislature has still not met its obligations to fully fund K-12 education required by their ruling in McCleary v. State of Washington. Governor Inslee’s proposal reflects this budgetary reality, proposing increases for K-12 education but only minor changes in overall funding for higher education institutions compared to the enacted 2017-19 biennial budget. New investments directed at the UW include additional funding for computer science enrollments.

On the capital side, the Governor’s proposal is similar to the proposed final capital budget that was negotiated, but ultimately not approved, in the 2017 session. That budget was not passed due to a disagreement over a fix to a different Washington Supreme Court decision regarding water rights (Whatcom County v. Hirst).

The Governor’s budget release marks the first step of the 2018 legislative session – set to begin on Monday, January 8, 2018. As a reminder, the House and the Senate will propose their own budgets throughout this short 60-day session as they work toward compromise supplemental budgets.

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates during the 2018 legislative session.

2017 Legislative Session: OPB Brief on 2017-19 Compromise Operating and Capital Budgets

Posted on

Leadership in the House and Senate released a 2017-19 compromise state operating budget on June 30, 2017 in the form of Substitute Senate Bill 5883. The Governor signed the budget less than an hour before midnight, narrowly avoiding a partial state government shutdown. Lawmakers also passed a partial capital budget that reappropriates unspent capital funding from the 2015-17 biennium, which allows previously authorized projects to continue into the new biennium, but does not make new appropriations for 2017-19.

A brief from the Office of Planning & Budgeting provides a detailed overview of the final compromise operating budget and partial capital budget. We expect that a compromise 2017-19 capital budget will be released within a couple weeks, and will update the brief at that time.

The final compromise operating budget represents a middle ground between budget proposals released by the Governor, House and Senate earlier this session. The budget maintains current tuition policy, allowing for a 2.2 percent resident undergraduate tuition increase in FY18. Lawmakers made significant investments to maintain and expand state programs, especially in K-12 education. As a reminder, this budget cycle largely focused on meeting the state’s K-12 funding obligations, due to the state Supreme Court’s ruling in McCleary v. State of Washington.

Investments directed at the UW include funding for employee compensation, medical education, STEM enrollments, and several research initiatives across academic disciplines. However, lawmakers also reduced the UW’s state funding and assumed an offsetting reduction in tuition waived for graduate students. They also instituted a new charge to state agencies for services provided by the Governor’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), which will result in the UW having to use $3 million in student tuition revenue over the biennium to support OFM instead of the University’s academic mission.

 

Please contact Jed Bradley if you have any questions.

2017 Legislative Session– OPB Brief on House Appropriations Operating Budget Proposal

Posted on

On Monday, leadership in the House Appropriations Committee released their initial operating budget proposal. This proposal follows last week’s release of the Senate operating proposal and December’s release of the Governor’s operating and capital proposals.

See the new OPB brief here for information regarding the House proposal, as well as a full comparison between current budget proposals.

Some noteworthy items in the House Appropriations operating budget proposal include:

  • Compensation: Partially funds a 2 percent increase in FY18 and two 2 percent increases in FY19 for non-represented employees, and partially funds collective bargaining agreements for represented employees.
  • Tuition Policy: Like the Governor’s proposal, the House would freeze resident undergraduate tuition across all public higher education institutions for two years, and would provide funding to cover the difference between the tuition freeze and incremental revenue expected under current policy.
  • Undergraduate Enrollment: Adds $6 million to the UW over the biennium to increase degree production in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
  • Financial Aid: Appropriates $49.2 million to the State Need Grant to reduce the number of unserved, eligible students, by 25 percent (around 6000 students).
  • Provisos: Adds new funding for several targeted efforts, including funding for the Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE Program)

In addition, the Senate Ways & Means committee released its proposed capital budget on Tuesday, and the OPB brief on the Senate’s proposals has been updated. Some highlights include:

  • Funding to complete the Burke Museum ($24.2 million)
  • Minor Works and Preventative Maintenance ($70.8 million from the UW Building Account)
  • Major Infrastructure – Seismic Upgrades ($10 million)
  • Population Health Sciences Building ($15 million)
  • Health Sciences Education – T-wing Renovation ($10 million)
  • Center for Advanced Materials and Clean Energy ($10 million)
  • Evans School – Parrington Hall Renovation ($10 million)

The House has not released a capital budget as of the time of this posting, but that brief will be updated once that information is available.

 

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates on proposed budgets.

2017 Legislative Session– OPB Brief on Senate Ways & Means Chair Operating Budget Proposal

Posted on

On Tuesday, leadership in the Senate Ways & Means Committee released their initial 2017-19 operating budget proposal. This proposal is the first from a legislative body following the release of Governor Inslee’s operating and capital budget proposals from December. OPB’s brief provides a full comparison. Unlike the Governor’s budget proposal, the Senate does not propose significant new revenue, and therefore would provide far fewer new investments in new and existing programs.

Some noteworthy items in the Senate budget proposal include:

  • Tuition Policy: Maintains current tuition policy allowing a 2.2 percent increase in resident undergraduate tuition in FY18 and a 2.0 percent increase in FY19. The Governor proposed freezing tuition for two years, and provided funds to backfill that freeze.
  • Undergraduate Enrollment: Adds $10.5 million to the UW over the biennium to increase resident undergraduate enrollments in STEM and other fields.
  • Financial Aid: Reduces the UW’s state appropriation by $5.2 million over the biennium and assume that the University would offset the reduction by reducing tuition waivers provided to students.
  • Compensation: Partially funds $500 wage increases per year for faculty, staff, and represented employees. The budget would also reject tentative collective bargaining agreements between the UW and represented employees.
  • New “Central Service”: Reinstates a charge for central services provided by the Governor’s Office of Financial Management, which would divert $7.5 million in tuition revenue over the biennium.

The Senate did not release a capital budget as of the time of this posting, but the brief will be updated once that information is available. We expect to review proposals from the House Appropriations Committee early next week, and will post additional information at that time.

Stay tuned to the OPBlog for updates on proposed budgets.