News and Updates

People sometimes wonder what kind of toll a legislative session takes.  To answer that question, I’ve posted a picture of myself at the beginning of session and at the end of this week.  Compare for yourself and have a great weekend.

There are just three weeks to go in session (adjournment is scheduled for April 26), and if any more of them are like this one the next sound you hear will be that of heads exploding on the Capitol Campus.

As reported over the last few days on the blog, both the Senate and House have released operating and capital budget proposals.  For higher education, all of the budgets are substantially below those proposed by the Governor, and tuition has not been increased to a level that would provide a meaningful offset to the cuts.  To get a sense of magnitude, the House proposal would roll back state support levels for the UW to that of the 1997 to 1999 biennium.  We are working throughout the University, and in collaboration with the state’s other higher education institutions and supporters, to communicate how cuts of this magnitude will affect not only students but the state economy, and to look for ways we can reduce their effect.

Next week action shifts to the floor — only one Higher Education hearing is scheduled.  That is the House Higher Education Committee which will meet April 9 at 9 a.m. for a briefing on workforce training efforts.

Our request legislation to protect private investment information submitted to the endowment has passed the Senate and now returns to the House for concurrence in an amendment.  Our other bills on tuition policy for graduate and out-of-state students and streamlining public works contracting remain active and are awaiting committee votes.

But the big news for the rest of the session clearly will be the budget and what, if any, revenue packages will be developed to reduce the effect of budget cuts.  Expect plenty of rumors to fly — we’ll do our best to separate solid facts from speculation and post updates here as they become available.

We have posted on our website a document that shows how budget cuts proposed for the UW compare to those in other states, including the Global Challenge states (A group including California, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado and others that are used as a benchmark for states competing in the global economy).  Here are some highlights —

• The level of budget cuts proposed for higher education in Washington are higher than those being considered by any other state in the country but Nevada.

• The 23-31 percent budget cuts in Washington are much higher than the average cuts being considered by the home states of our peer institutions.

• 8-9 percent cuts among the UW Global Challenge Peers

• 7-8 percent cuts among the UW HEC Board 24 Peers

• Tuition at the UW ranks lowest among the Global Challenge State peers, and ranks 18th out of 24 HEC Board peers.

• A 14 percent tuition increase equates to approximately $875 a year in additional fees for resident undergraduate students at the UW.

• After a 14 percent tuition increase, the UW remains the most affordable institution among the Global Challenge State peers and maintains its relative affordability among HEC Board peers.

• Federal increases of $1,000 in Pell grants plus planned increases in Washington State Need Grants will significantly lessen the impact of an $875 tuition increase on students and families.

• The expanded federal tuition tax credit, from $1,800 to $2,500, will assist families making up to $160,000 per year to recover educational expenses over four years, including the $875 tuition increase. Families at the lowest income levels with taxes below $2,500 could actually receive a rebate up to $1,000.

• Students who qualify for Husky Promise will continue to pay zero tuition for four years.

You can read the entire document here.

During this morning’s live chat, I answered the following question incorrectly —

“Why would the UW cut fundraising staff during a time of constrained resources? They bring money in.”

Fundraising staff was cut, but the reason was not the current budget — it was a response to the severe drop in the stock market which dramatically reduced our endowment income.

Sorry for any confusion and thanks again to everyone who participated in the live chat.

Randy Hodgins, Director of the Office of State Relations, held a live chat from 10 am to 11 am on April 2, 2009 regarding the state budget and other key issues in Olympia.  See below for the live chat transcript:

Both House and Senate Capital Budget writers released their proposals and both find construction projects at the UW scaled back.  The House version contains fewer projects (for example no funding for the UW Tacoma Joy Building project) and transfers all UW building account money to the general fund.  Because of the use of transfers from the capital budget to the operating budget, a smaller project list was expected, but we will be working with lawmakers to address specific concerns raised by the proposals.  As with the operating budgets, negotiators from both Houses are meeting to work out differences.

A final reminder, please join me tomorrow at 10 a.m. for a live chat on budget issues, here on the blog.

We’ve had a chance to review the Senate and House budget proposals in more detail — here are some basics:

The House cut the UW budget $261 million, compared to $189 million for the Senate and $116 for the Governor’s proposal.  The House allows tuition increases up to 10% (compared to 7% for the Senate and Governor), but it allows less flexibility in how to cut and requires that enrollments be maintained and that graduation rates be maintained in high demand fields.   Raises for all state employees and teachers were put on hold.

Community colleges were cut less than four year school.  Of the four-year schools, the UW received the largest cut (31% from its maintenance level — that’s the level that would have been needed to carry forward all programs at the same level as last biennium).

Here is a link to a statement posted by President Emmert on his blog.

Also, here is a sampling of this mornings budget coverage from the Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune, Olympian, and Everett Herald.

The Seattle Times also has an editorial this morning calling for increased tuition to mitigate higher education cuts.

The capital budget proposal will be released later today and we will have an update as it becomes available.

Also, remember that tomorrow from 10 am to 11 am I will be here for a live chat on the budget — what it means and where the process goes from here.  I hope you will join us.

This Thursday morning from 10 to 11 am I will be conducting a live online chat about the budget situation.  Come to the blog at that time where you can submit your questions, read answers, and see the comments of your fellow community members.  You can enter your email in the live chat box on the blog for a reminder.  This will be a first for us, but we hope it is a way to get more information to the university community and to help you get your questions and concerns addressed.

House budget writers have released their operating budget proposal and as rumored it cuts higher education deeper than the Senate version released yesterday.  Tuition is allowed to rise 10 percent under the House approach, but even with that the overall reduction is much larger.  We will have more specifics later — for now, here are stories on the House proposal from the Seattle Times and SeattlePI.com.

Here is some more coverage of and reaction to the state Senate budget proposal.

The News Tribune (Tacoma)

The Spokesman Review (Spokane)

The Olympian (Olympia)

The Everett Herald (Everett)

Seattle PI.com

House Democrats are scheduled to release their operating budget proposal tomorrow morning at 10:00.  We will have details of the key differences here as they become available.