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News and Updates

News and Updates

This Week in Olympia: Gov-Elect Hires Senior Staff, State Senate Appointments

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Gov-Elect Jay Inslee announced three senior staff hires this week.

Jerry Cornfield reports for the Everett Herald:

First up, Ted Sturdevant. He is now the director of the Department of Ecology and will become the executive director for legislative affairs and policy for Inslee. It’s likely he will be one of the key liaisons between the new governor and the 147 men and women in the Legislature.

 

Next up, David Postman. He’s a former journalist who covered state government and politics for the Tacoma News Tribune and Seattle Times. After leaving the Times, he served as director of communications and media for Paul Allen’s Vulcan, Inc. For Inslee, he will be the executive director of communications. This job will likely put him in the room for strategy sessions and put him in charge of translating Inslee in a way the public and reporters can understand.

 

Finally, Joby Shimomura. She and Inslee go way back and she is one of his most trusted advisers. She managed Inslee’s campaign for governor and a couple of his congressional campaigns as well. When he was in Congress, she served as his chief of staff from 1999-2005. She will serve as senior advisor, a position no doubt responsible for making sure he’s in a good position to win a second term in 2016.

In a news release on the announcement, the Gov-Elect’s transition office also noted a re-organization is underway in the policy shop:

At Governor-Elect Inslee’s direction, the Office of the Governor will be reorganized on January 16th. Constituent Services and Correspondence will report directly to the Executive Director of Communications, and the Office of Legislative Affairs will merge with the Office of Policy to create a single office under the Executive Director for Legislative Affairs and Policy. The reorganization will yield a net reduction of between 4 and 8 positions.

In other Olympia news, commissioners from several Eastern Washington counties elected a replacement to fill the Senate Seat being vacated by retiring State Senator Bob Morton.

Colville-area farmer and businessman John Smith will succeed Morton, as reported by the Spokesman Review.

One State Senate vacancy remains in the 26th District seat vacated by now Congressman Derek Kilmer.

The Peninsula Gateway reports on the top contenders for that appointment, which has not yet been scheduled, but is expected before session begins on Jan. 14.

 

The Week in Tweets: State Senate Negotiations, and Budget Blueprints

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Power sharing talks continue in the State Senate, via The Olympian:

The situation in the State Senate also attracted the attention of The New York Times this week:

Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle) talks about his philosophy as the incoming House Finance Chair:

House Budget leaders preview the upcoming session on TVW:

Finally, the Seattle Times profiles Sen. Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and his role in the new State Senate Majority Coalition:

https://twitter.com/brianmrosenthal/status/282965208870305793

 

Gov. Gregoire Releases 2013-2015 Budget Blueprint

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Governor Chris GregoireIn her last budget before leaving office, Gov. Chris Gregoire this week addressed the state’s nearly $1 billion budget deficit, and tackled a court mandate to fully fund basic education.

Read UW’s Office of Planning & Budgeting brief and blog post on the Governor’s 2013-2015 budget proposal.

The Governor released both a “Book 1” and a “Book 2” budget.

The “Book 1” budget is required by law to be balanced within current revenues.

As the state is facing a $970 million budget shortfall in 2013-2015, the Governor’s Book 1 is an all cuts budget, and would cut spending in higher education by $52 Million.

The “Book 2” budget includes the Governor’s plans for addressing the state’s financial situation through a mix of spending cuts, savings, and revenue increases.

In keeping with the no new cuts to higher education budget she signed in 2011, Gov. Gregoire’s 2013-2015 “Book 2” budget would largely hold higher education harmless from cuts.

It also includes several targeted investments in STEM programs and financial aid:

  • Creating a STEM enrollment pool ($11 million)
  • Supporting UW College of Engineering ($1 million per year)
  • Funding College Bound Scholarships ($35 million).

In terms of compensation, the budget restores the temporary, 3% salary reduction to state workers, but allocates those funds to implement the university’s collective bargaining agreements.

The budget does not assume new tuition increases, though the six public universities still have tuition-setting authority passed in 2011.

In sum, under the Governor’s “Book 2” budget, state appropriations for each of the state’s six public universities would increase slightly over the next two years.

Responding to the release of Gov. Gregoire’s budget, a spokesman for Gov.-Elect Jay Inslee’s transition team told the Tacoma News Tribune:

“In the upcoming legislative session, Governor-Elect Inslee will lay out his own budget priorities that reflect his vision for state government…”

Meanwhile, two top Republicans on budget-writing committees in the House and Senate told TVW the proposal may be useful as a reference point, but were cool to the idea of new revenues.

In the upcoming 105-day session, the State Legislature will review the new Governor’s proposals, develop its own, and propose new laws to fund it.

Stay tuned for more news & analysis, as we approach January 14, the first day of session!

Budget Resources

Watch the Governor’s press conference on TVW.

Read the Governor’s press release announcing her budget.

Read the Governor’s Office policy briefs.

State Senate Proposals and Counter-Proposals

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Control of the State Senate is still up in the air this week.

Over the weekend, both sides took to the editorial page of the Seattle Times in dueling guest op-eds to argue their respective cases.

In one corner: “Don’t Call the State Senate’s Majority Coalition Bi-Partisan,” authored by State Sens. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) and Karen Fraser (D-Olympia).

In the other: “State Senate’s New Majority Coalition Caucus Will Govern Across Party Lines,” written by State Sens. Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville).

Today, Senate Democrats rejected the Majority Coalition’s earlier power-sharing proposal, and made a counter-offer of their own.

Sen. Murray also told the Associated Press he wouldn’t cede his leadership position as Senate Majority Leader, until the Majority Coalition Caucus moves to change the body’s rules on the floor.

UW’s LEAN Initiative Continues to Attract National Attention

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After a fall election marked by a spotlight on efficiency efforts, it’s fair to say that interest will likely continue to grow in “LEAN” management.

Since January 2010, UW’s Finance & Facilities (F2) department has been using LEAN as a comprehensive approach to improve management of people and processes, as well as delivering more efficient and effective services to campus customers.

F2’s LEAN process involves streamlining day-to-day work activities and processes, engaging the staff and encouraging them to identify and solve problems, and encourages people to continuously improve their work in a hands-on way.

Earlier this year, UW’s Creative Communications department was recognized by a national magazine for its financial turnaround, which utilized the LEAN process.

This month, the University’s LEAN initiative was recognized yet again, this time by The National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI).

V’Ella Warren, the UW’s Vice President of Finance and Facilities (F2) and CFO, recently hosted representatives from Cornell University, including NCCI’s President Kathy Burkgren.

The purpose of the visit was to highlight how Finance and Facilities is implementing LEAN in the area of process improvement.

In the December newsletter for the national group, Burkgren reported back on the  visit:

The University of Washington is change leadership in action and has made tremendous strides since 2009 with the introduction of process improvement which is changing their culture. Through process improvement, they are creating a culture where people feel valued, know their ideas matter, and feel they are empowered. Creativity is valued and celebrated. During our visit, I not only saw engaged staff, but highly engaged staff. I saw recognition among and between colleagues at all levels. I witnessed career development through challenging work. I saw respectful, constructive, and timely feedback happening right before my eyes among employees, managers, and senior leaders. My colleagues and I heard about how staff at all levels, by working together, eliminated backlogs of work, standardized processes, improved customer service, and significantly streamlined processes to save time and dollars. We heard testimonies of collaborations among workgroups. I saw boards with easy-to-update metrics and metrics tracked and updated daily so that monthly and quarterly metrics almost create themselves (or so it seemed). It was truly amazing. Kudos to the University of Washington!

Two examples of LEAN process improvement in action on campus:

  • Electronic Purchasing: Procurement Services’ efforts to migrate legacy system purchases to new ones have resulted in cost savings of $8.5M for the 6-month period ended September 2011, and $105M cumulative savings since July 2002.
  • Savings from UW Contracts: Purchasing Services has achieved savings of $13M for the 6 months ended September 2011, and $59M from January 2009-September 2011, via purchases made on University-wide contracts they established.

Sustainability efforts also benefit from the LEAN approach, especially as applied to improving building efficiency.

One example:

  • Smart Grid Demonstration Project: Electrical meters have been installed in all Seattle campus buildings and metering data are being collected.  Webpage “dashboards” present real-time building energy consumption information. This is expected to encourage conservation of energy by building occupants. This is part of an innovative project conducted in collaboration with the College of Engineering, Battelle, Bonneville Power Administration, McKinstry, and Seattle City Light.

Learn more by visiting Finance & Facilities LEAN webpage.

 

State House Committee Assignments Shape Up

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While much attention remains focused on reorganization in the State Senate, both caucuses in the State House have now released most of their committee assignments.

On the Higher Education Committee, the gavel will remain with Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor).

As the rosters below demonstrate, there will be a number of new members from both caucuses on the Higher Ed committee this session:

Democrats

Rep. Larry Seaquist – Chair

Rep. Gerry Pollett – Vice Chair

Rep. Drew Hansen

Rep. Jamie Pedersen

Rep. Chris Reykdal

Rep.-elect Marcus Riccilli

Rep.-elect David Sawyer

Rep. Mike Sells

Rep. Gael Tarleton

Rep. Sharon Wylie

Source: House Democrat Committee Assignments

Republicans

Rep. Larry Haler, Ranking Member

Rep. Hans Zeiger, Assistant Ranking Member

Rep. Susan Fagan

Rep. Mark Hargrove

Rep. Norm Johnson

Rep.-elect Chad Magendanz

Rep.-elect Elizabeth Scott

Rep. Norma Smith

Rep. Maureen Walsh

Source: House Republican Committee Assignments

Ed Boards Weigh in on State Senate, Revenue Collections Up

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The newly formed Majority Coalition Caucus in the State Senate received cautiously optimistic reviews from newspaper editorial boards around the state.

At separate editorial board meetings with the Seattle Times this week, Senate leaders on both sides discussed their ongoing negotiations on a governance plan.

According to tweets from the meeting, Sens. Rodney Tom (D-Medina), Mark Schoesler (R-Ritzville), and Joe Fain (R-Auburn) were optimistic about reaching a power-sharing agreement.

In terms of policy, Sen. Tom told the Times’ editorial board that the coalition was “committed to enhancing funding for education,” while Sen. Schoesler said Higher Education had sacrificed enough.

In the Democrats’ meeting with the Times’ board, Sens. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) and David Frockt (D-Seattle) both expressed concerns with what they called a “take-it-or-leave-it” proposal from the Coalition, but left the door open to further negotiation:

Both sides are expected to continue negotiations on governance proposals heading into the weekend.

In other Olympia-related news:

An update released from the ERFC shows state revenue collections ticked up last month, and unemployment dropped.

Gov. Gregoire announced she is preparing a new package to address the state’s transportation infrastructure needs.

Power-Sharing Coalition Forms in Washington State Senate

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State Senate Press Conference

Majority Coalition Caucus Press Conference in Olympia. Photo Credit: @AustinJenkinsN3.

At a press conference in the State Capitol today, Senators Rodney Tom (D-Medina) and Tim Sheldon (D-Potlach) joined with Republican senators to announce that they have formed a Majority Coalition Caucus to lead the Senate in the upcoming legislative session.

Coalition leaders said the public was hungry for a cooperative approach in Olympia, and pledged to unite behind a set of principles (PDF) signed by 25 state senators.

In terms of committee structure (PDF), the coalition leaders announced plans to form six committees with Democratic chairs, six with Republican chairs and three with co-chairs.

Under their plan, none of the committees will have more than a one-vote margin between Republicans and Democrats.

It remains to be seen how Senate Democrats led by Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) will react to today’s power-sharing proposal by the coalition.

UPDATE 1: Watch the press conference on TVW.

UPDATE 2: Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) issued a statement regarding the proposed organizing structure.

Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s Public Officials Reception

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Randy Hodgins and attendees

PHOTO: UW Vice President for External Affairs Randy Hodgins (left) poses with attendees at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s Public Officials Reception.

Held every December, this event brings together business and civic leaders to meet and network with state legislators and local elected officials about issues of regional and state interest.

State officials attending this year were: Gov.-elect Jay Inslee, Secretary of State Sam Reed, State Treasurer Jim McIntire, Attorney General-elect Bob Ferguson, State Senators: Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Andy Hill, Joe Fain, Steve Litzow, Reuven Carlyle; State Representatives: Judy Clibborn, Joe Fitzgibbons, Cyrus Habib (elect), Zack Hudgins, and Eric Pettigrew; as well as many other local and regional officials.