News & Updates

The Washington State Supreme Court has just ruled in a major case, dismissing Sen. Lisa Brown’s challenge to Initiative 960 which (among other things) requires a two-thirds vote of lawmakers to raise taxes.  Last session, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen (who presides over the Senate) had enforced the two-thirds vote requirement, drawing the legal challenge.  Justices heard the case last summer.  Rich Roesler of the Spokesman Review has a synopsis of the case on his blog.

To date most public discussion of possible tax measures have involved a referendum to the people, which would not be subject to the two-thirds vote requirement.  Still, this is an important ruling to have in place before lawmakers begin to roll out their budget proposals in the coming weeks.

After Monday’s cutoff for action in the fiscal committees, our request legislation is still alive in both houses.  This includes bills to allow the University continued tuition setting authority for graduate and out-of-state students (HB 1235/SB 5734), to protect private investment information given to our endowment (HB 1640/SB 5526), and to streamline public works contracting processes (HB 1916/SB 5760).  Also of importance, and through committee, is HB 2254 which would allow universities to finance some building projects with “certificates of participation.”  This would allow more construction projects to be built than would be possible under capital budget resources.  The next step for all of these bills is floor consideration.

Also in the last couple of days, a number of news articles have appeared speculating on the level of budget cuts that might be in store for higher education. A note of caution is in order.  The budget situation has never been so fluid.  There are a number of moving parts, including budget cuts, tuition levels and the federal stimulus package.  While we can expect plenty of speculation to emerge about different plans and proposals, negotiations over the final shape of the budget still have a long way to go. We will continue to post significant developments here as soon as they are available.

Week 8 of the 2009 session is on tap.  After Monday’s cutoff for fiscal committees, the focus will turn to the floor where lawmakers will have until March 12 to move bills from their house of origin.  All of the University’s request legislation is moving forward at this point.  Next week we will have a clearer sense of which other bills of interest remain alive.

With the emphasis on floor action, next week will be a light one in the committee rooms.  The House Higher Education Committee has one meeting scheduled for Friday morning; the Senate has none scheduled at this time.

And for those who are tracking such things, mark your calendars for
Thursday — it’s the halfway point of the session!

Today is the first policy committee cutoff in Olympia (fiscal committees have until Monday to act on the bills they receive — expect long hearings in those committees the next few days).  All of the UW request bills (simplifying public works, protecting private investment information given to the endowment, making permanent tuition policy for graduate school) remain alive.

Earlier this session we reported on efforts to establish a four-year college in Snohomish County (either a standalone school or a UW branch campus).  As of the cutoff, a proposal to create a new four-year school remains alive, but the version approved does not specify governance or when the school would be built.  Expect more discussion on this as the session continues.

UW student regent Jean-Paul Willynck, a senior Urban Studies student at UW Tacoma, wrote an excellent op-ed piece for the Seattle PI on the value of funding higher education during an economic downturn.  Among other points, Willynck notes:

Like the building of roads, schools and telecommunication networks, investing in higher education not only looks to the future, but also provides much-needed jobs right now. As universities work toward their research and teaching goals, they employ thousands of faculty, support staff and teaching assistants. Further, the 100,000-plus students who attend four-year public universities in Washington support businesses from Bellingham to Pullman to Tacoma.

Specifically, at the University of Washington, more than 240 companies have been started by professors, students or with UW-developed technology. When institutions are asked to make budget cuts of 13 percent, this means fewer people to teach our future work force and entrepreneurs, less undergraduate engagement in research and decreased ability to attract the best and brightest to Washington. A reduction in funding cuts jobs and undermines the quality of education in the classroom.

Willynck is the first student from UWT to serve as student regent.  You can read the entire op-ed piece here.

There’s a new blog in town — Publicola — and it features an interview with President Emmert conducted by editor Josh Feit (who formerly covered politics for The Stranger).  You can check out the interview here.

Periodically we’ve been checking in with other western states on how their respective budget shortfalls are affecting public universities.  In California, the recently approved budget agreement includes major cuts for the University of California and the California State University systems.  A story in the University of California San Diego student paper summarizes the cuts:

The $130 billion budget plan slashes UC funding by an additional $115 million, stretching the university’s total projected budget deficit to $450 million. The cuts are designed to save the state a sum of $264.4 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

UC President Mark G. Yudof said the new round of cuts will have both immediate and long-term implications for the university and the state economy as a whole.

“It is important to state clearly that the reductions contained in this budget will be felt by students, by faculty, by staff and ultimately by people across California who benefit in their daily lives from the university’s work,” Yudof said in a statement. “Lower spending for higher education ultimately erodes student opportunity, innovation, health care and medical research and economic growth for California.”

Because the California budget accord relies on voters approving a series of ballot measures in May (and early polling suggests they may not), this story is far from over.

Look at the legislative schedule and you will see fewer hearings than usual, and more agendas that say “possible action on bills previously heard in committee.”  That’s because Wednesday the 25th is the cutoff for bills to clear their initial policy committee.  Fiscal committees have a longer cutoff — Monday, March 2.

While legislative veterans know that no bill is completely dead until lawmakers adjourn, we will have a much better idea after the cutoffs of the proposals that have a serious chance to become law.  Our request bills on protecting private investment information submitted to the endowment, simplifying public works contracting processes, and making permanent the tuition policy for graduate school are all moving forward.

Also, we welcome new Rep. Laura Grant-Herriott to Olympia.  She will represent the 16th District (Walla Walla) and is replacing her late father, Rep. Bill Grant, who passed away earlier this year.  After being selected by county commissioners Friday, she was sworn in and plans to arrive in Olympia Monday.

During today’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council meeting, chief forecaster Dr. Arun Raha twice referred to the good news of Ken Griffey, Jr. coming back to the Mariners.

That was all the good news Dr. Raha provided, as he updated state revenue numbers.  For the remainder of the current biennium (which ends June 30) lawmakers must find another 700 million dollars in savings.  For the next biennium, the budget shortfall has ballooned to over 8 billion dollars.  Some help will come from the federal stimulus plan, and lawmakers may tap the state rainy day fund sooner than expected, but it is clear that additional cuts are on the way.

Lawmakers will still receive a full, updated forecast in March, but the economic trends (lower consumer spending, reduced sales tax revenues) make a happy surprise unlikely.

Did we mention that Ken Griffey, Jr. is returning to the Mariners?

UPDATE:  You can see a PDF copy of the presentation made by Dr. Raha here.

Lawmakers today gave final approval to two measures designed to address budget shortfalls in the current biennium.  Shortly after passage, Governor Gregoire signed both measures into law.  One of the bills (SB 5460) would freeze most state hiring, salaries, travel, contracts, and purchasing for the remainder of the biennium.  Amendments adopted in the Senate and agreed to by the House improved the bill by exempting federal and patient revenues from the freeze.  The bill still raises substantial concerns, however, in areas where flexibility is needed, such as faculty retention.  We will be working with lawmakers on alternatives that could provide such flexibility as work on the overall state budget continues.

Also, a reminder that tomorrow at 4:30 the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will convene for a special “preview” meeting that will provide the latest numbers for budgeteers.