Category: 2009 Legislative Session

Governor Gregoire has chosen a replacement for Cindy Zehnder who announced in August her plans to step down as chief of staff in the Governor’s office.  Jay Manning, who has been serving as director of the Department of Ecology will replace Zehnder effective October 19.

Manning has lead the Department of Ecology since February 2005.  He previously worked as an attorney in private practice and is also a former assistant attorney general.  He’s a Washington native who earned a B.A. in political science from Eastern Washington University and a law degree from the University of Oregon.

Here’s the official announcement from the Governor’s office.

During legislative debate on tuition increases this past session, the state’s public baccalaureate system took some pointed criticism from many corners about not being efficient or effective enough with state taxpayer dollars or student tuition dollars.   At the time, we didn’t have enough concrete information from a national comparative perspective to prove otherwise and as part of the deal to permit institutions to raise tuition to 14% per year, a performance audit of the four year system is going to be conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee.

So, I’m pleased to report that the Council of Presidents staff has pulled together some remarkable information that I have recently posted to the state relations website that paints a very favorable national picture of Washington four year insitutions.  If you look under the “Resources” section to the right, you will see two new Investment Reports, one on degree productivity and one on system design that all of us in the the public baccalaureate system hope will begin to help restore legisalative confidence in the efficiency and effectiveness of all six four year institutions.

Students, faculty and staff at the University of California’s 10 campuses aren’t taking their significant budget cuts lying down. Today, rallies and job actions are planned throughout the state to protest legislative budget cuts, furloughts and tuition increases.

Here’s the story from today’s The New York Times.

The state economic and revenue forecast council met in Olympia this morning to adopt the most recent forecast of state general fund revenues.  The new forecast shows projected tax collections down $238 million for the remainder of the 2009-11 biennium.

Dr. Arun Raha, the state’s chief forecaster, indicated that the state’s economy has likely bottomed out and will soon be on the mend.  Because consumers continue to pay down debt and are guarded about spending for large ticket items (houses, cars, etc.) Washington State’s recovery will take more time than the rest of the nation.

Coupled with the decline in state revenues forecast in June, the September revenue forecast puts the state’s budget balance sheet in a $185 million negative position (even when including the use of the $245 million budget stabilization account balance).  Together with mandatory supplemental spending needs and the need to rebuild the state’s budget reserves, a number of Olympia budget officials have alluded to a 2010 supplemental budget “problem” of about $1 billion.

Governor Gregoire stated today that she will be preparing a supplemental budget for the next legislative session that accounts for the revenue shortfalls which have occured since the Legislature adjourned last spring and stated that additional spending cuts would be needed to bring the budget back into balance.

I don’t know about you but I’m still not quite fully adjusted to the fact that our primary election was held in mid-August.  I’m so conditioned to thinking about mid to late September as primary season, which of course starts me thinking about the upcoming November election.

This is an off-year election for state races as you know, although there are plenty of interesting city and county contests to follow.  There are two issues of state significance on the November ballot, however, that bear some attention.  The first is Referendum 71, which seeks to overturn a bill (E2SSB 5688) passed by the Legislature during the 2009 session related to domestic partnerships.  Voters who support the domestic partnership legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor would vote to “Approve” Referendum 71.  Votes who oppose the bill would vote to “Reject” Referendum 71.

The other statewide ballot measure is Initiative 1033 which would limit the annual growth of state, city and county general fund revenue to the rate of inflation and population growth.  General fund revenues exceeding this limit must be used to reduce the following year’s state, city or county general fund property tax levy.

According to an analysis prepared by the state Office of Financial Management, I-1033 would reduce state general fund revenues by a total of $5.9 billion, county revenues by $694 million and city revenues by $2.1 billion over the next six years.  The initiative is set on a calendar year basis and if passed, would go into effect in 2011 where the loss to the state general fund budget is estimated to be $676 million.

Rep. Reuven Carlyle just completed his first legislative session as a representative from the 36th legislative district in Seattle (Queen Anne, Magnolia, etc.).  He serves on the House Higher Education committee and is a strong supporter of all sectors of education.  Here’s a recent post from his blog that expreses his thoughts on the UW’s fortunes in the state capitol that I thought many of you would find illuminating.

Thanks to all of you who have been patient with the lack of blog postings in August. I needed some time away in order to pull off a long planned relocation from Olympia to Seattle. Happy to say the old house is sold and my family and I should be moved into my new home in Seattle by mid-month.

As for state political news, I’m assuming most of you may have been reading the papers regularly, but if not, here’s some state political news that has happened recently:

• Governor’s Chief of Staff Cindy Zehnder is stepping down at the end of the month after about two years on the job.
• The Governor’s communications chief Pearse Edwards has already left to take a similar position for the Governor of North Carolina, his home state.
• State  Senator Ed Murray has decided not to run as a write-in candidate for the Seattle mayoral contest this November.
• State Senator Fred Jarrett and Represenative Ross Hunter finished out of the running for King County Executive’s race in the August 19 primary election.
• Higher Education Coordinating Board executive director Ann Daley recently announced she will step down from her post at the end of the 2010 legislative session.

More to come in the days ahead.  Hope everyone saw the great news about the Ocean Observatory Initiative grant award which was announced yesterday.  State legislative funding for the “e-Science Initiative” in the 2008 supplemental budget helped play a role in securing this historical grant for the University.

More posts in the days to come.

Since word is starting to get out, I wanted to let all of you regular blog readers know that effective August 1, I will become Vice President of External Affairs at the University. Here’s the official release from the Office of the President.

Dear Chancellors, Deans, Directors, and Chairs,

I am very pleased to announce that I am appointing Randy Hodgins as Vice President for External Affairs, effective August 1, 2009. This appointment is subject to the approval of the Board of Regents. In this capacity, Randy will oversee all aspects of our Government Relations (Federal, State and Regional), Media Relations and Communications, as well as Marketing (which also reports to the Vice President for Advancement).

As you know, Randy has been serving as Vice President on an interim basis since September 17, 2008, when Scott Woodward was appointed Athletic Director. Since then, Randy has continued to serve as Director of State Relations, the position for which he was hired to the University in January 2004.

Randy has performed extraordinarily well in his interim capacity, while continuing to superbly represent the UW’s interests in Olympia during the most difficult session in recent memory. I am confident he is absolutely the right person to lead our External Affairs team at this time.

Over the next several weeks, Randy and I will be discussing the process and timing for hiring a new Director of State Relations. If you are like me, you are probably having a hard time imagining someone other than Randy in that critical role. However, I am confident that as our new Vice President for External Affairs, Randy will bring the same energy and enthusiasm (and sense of humor) to his new responsibilities, ensuring that his replacement will serve the University well for many years to come.

Please join me in congratulating Randy on his new appointment.

Sincerely,

Mark Emmert
President

President Emmert has sent an open letter to the UW Community regarding the just-passed state budget, its effect on the university, and how we will begin to implement the budget reductions.  As President Emmert notes in his letter, the reductions we must deal with are unprecedented and dramatic:

Over the weekend, the Legislature completed the unenviable task of writing and passing a biennial budget during the worst economic period in decades. Any budget that must bridge a biennial shortfall of $9 billion is bound to please no one and to result in serious consequences for the state.

For the University of Washington, the resulting budget decisions are dramatic. The bad news is that the Legislature decided to reduce state funding to the six public four-year college and universities more than any other sector in state government. The University of Washington received the highest percentage cut in all of higher education-26 percent. This is a stark and sobering number.

Beginning July 1, one quarter of our funding from the state will no longer exist. It is unprecedented in state history, and as far as we know, it is by far the largest reduction in state support to a flagship university by any state in the nation. It takes our state funding level back to where it was more than a decade ago and drops the portion of the state budget dedicated to four-year higher education to an all-time low.

The letter also addresses the tuition increases that were authorized, the budget process from here, and our commitment to manage the process with creativity and sensitivity.

I encourage all members of the University community, and supporters, to read the entire letter which is published on the President’s blog.

I ask myself that question because I feel like the beginning of session in mid-January was literally years ago.  Really.

Well, I managed to crawl home last night just before 2:00 a.m. and grab a couple hours of sleep. By now you have read that the legislative session ended but that there could be a special session on a few key bills that needed to pass yesterday but could not be resolved.  While all three budgets (operating, capital and transportation) were passed, a few measures that are needed to make the budgets work did not pass and it appears that the Governor will work with House and Senate leadership to choose the right time to bring legislators back to Olympia for a few days to complete this work.

None of the unfinished business impacts higher education or the UW’s operating or capital budgets so for all intents and purposes, our session business is over.  The results as you know were decidedly mixed.  Our state funds budget took a major hit which can be mitigated to some extent through tuition increases.  The capital budget was similarly lean with a limited amount of state funding and authorization to use building account revenues for our new molecular engineering building.  A major disappointment was the loss of authority to use the same funding source for Balmer Hall — a project that had been included in both chambers original capital budget proposals.

On the legislation side, our request bill to extend graduate and professional school tuition setting authority was passed (with a four year extension) and our bill to help maximize returns to our consolidated endowment fund were passed.  Legislation to require insurance for students studying abroad, to insure conformity with the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, and to provide additional flexibility for higher education institutions under the so-called “belt-tightening” act were all passed and sent on to the Governor.

We were not able to pass our request bill to broaden the UW and WSU’s flexiblity for alternative public works contracting procedures.  SB 5760 passed the Senate 37-5 but was narrowed so much in the House it would have had little impact on either institution.  A compromise amendment was never offered and the bill died yesterday.

Every legislative session has its own personalilty but you have probably read enough to know the 2009 session was perhaps the most difficult any of us can remember.  The budget numbers speak for themselves and with the tuition levels authorized, we have crossed an important threshhold where it appears the state no longer provides the majority of funding for our core educational enterprise.

I want to take a moment to thank a number of important individuals who helped me immensely this session.  First, my state relations assistants Karin Yukish and Teri Blair who keep me organized, on schedule and psychologically functional and to Emily Godfrey who helped me balance legislative work with my dual duties as Interim Vice President for External Affairs.  Kudos also to my pal Steve McLellan for some much needed help shoring up the state relations blog.

Major thanks to Paul Jenny and his entire Planning and Budgeting crew who absolutely turned on a dime whenever I needed something.  You guys had my back the entire session and I am truly grateful.  To Norm Arkans and the media relations team for extraordinary work in getting our messages out to the UW community and the entire state and to Tricia Thompson and her creative marketing team who pitched in with some really attention grabbing materials.

Theresa Doherty was an invaluable help following transportation issues in Olympia this year and I also appreciate our new federal relations director Christy Gullion’s patience for letting me focus on state matters and doing such a super job of managing through her first few months in D.C. without much help from the Interim VP for External Affairs.

Thanks also go to the dozens of individuals who came down to Olympia this session to support our legislative efforts either by testifying on bills, meeting with legislators or simply participating in Higher Education Day or other events.  Too numerous to mention but you all know who you are and I am lucky to have such great professionals to call on in a pinch.

I must also recognize and thank the two individuals who soldier each day during session with me — Amy Bell and Mike Woodin — my two contract lobbyists.  This session was brutal but despite the budget troubles we managed to get a lot of important legislation passed to make it easier for the University to manage through the next few years.  Both of you are a tremendous asset to the UW and I couldn’t work alongside more solid and caring colleagues.

Thanks also to all of you who followed the blog and our many adventures in Olympia.  I will hold a final session wrap-up briefing this Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. in 301 Gerberding and I hope to see many of you there.

Guess what?  Only 8 and 1/2 months to the start of the 2010 legislative session.