News & Updates

“Three yards and a cloud of dust” is an old football saying, originally used to describe Ohio State’s offense under Woody Hayes.

It could also apply to some of the debate over the University’s proposal to renovate Husky Stadium which continues to move forward, but not without some dust getting thrown up in the process.

To clear up the dust, below is a letter sent by President Emmert to the Faculty Senate which offers a clear and concise description of the reasons for and funding of the stadium project.

Dear Members of the Faculty Senate:

A number of concerns about athletic department funding, the expected salary for a new head football coach, and the Husky Stadium renovation project have reached me, and I want to provide some information and my perspective on these matters. I assume many of you recognize that the athletic department is a fully self-sustaining entity, with no state tax dollars, no University dollars, and no student fee dollars going to support its operations or capital expenses. The department is responsible for generating all of the $60 million a year it spends. It generates its revenue from ticket sales, media revenue, and philanthropy. To put the department in perspective, its annual budget represents about two percent of the University’s overall annual budget of $3.2 billion. Approximately 700 student-athletes participate in the 23 sports for men and women, roughly two percent of our undergraduate student population. Needless to say, the sports in which we compete receive far more attention from the public and the media than this two percent measure warrants.

There are about 14 athletic programs in the country that are self-sustaining. We, fortunately, are one of them and are able to do so largely on the strength of our football program, which generates about 85 percent of the department’s revenues. We are, by the way, the only institution in the state that does not subsidize its athletic program. Like all units at the University right now, the athletic department has been undergoing a process of examining its costs and expenditures and reducing them in the current economic climate.

A successful football program allows us to operate the other 22 sports. Success requires superb leadership, not just in providing a high quality educational experience for the students in the program, but on the field of competition as well. As in everything we do, we want our students to have access to the highest level of competition and success possible, and that means finding the right coach. Athletic Director Scott Woodward and I are looking for that person right now. Some of you may have seen some very large amounts reported in the newspapers for what it may take to hire such a coach. Some of the speculation has been greatly exaggerated. Nonetheless, salaries for coaches in the marketplace have escalated significantly in recent years, and we are prepared to pay a competitive salary for someone who can bring the program the kind of success it requires. I consider it a good business decision to invest the dollars necessary to keep the program healthy and competitive and to keep the revenues flowing to the athletic department to support all of its programs.

Another element of the success of the football program involves the renovation of Husky Stadium. Anyone who has been to the stadium in recent years knows that it is sorely in need of repair and renovation. The original lower bowl sits on the same earthen foundation built for it 90 years ago. We have developed a program for its renewal that totals $300 million, $50 million of which is targeted for a new football training and office facility adjacent to the stadium. Another $100 million would rebuild the press boxes on the stadium’s south side and provide other stadium enhancements. The remaining $150 million would address fundamental safety improvements, including replacing the crumbling lower bowl, meeting seismic requirements, and complying with ADA requirements.

We have a funding plan to accomplish this project. We believe the athletic department can raise through a variety of means $150 million from donors, seat-related contributions, and other departmental sources. This $150 million is earmarked for the new football facility and stadium enhancements. We are proposing that the other $150 million, earmarked for safety improvements, be funded from existing taxes collected only in King County and currently paying debt on Safeco and Qwest Fields. The taxes are on rental cars, hotels and motels, and restaurants. When they were created to support these sports facilities, they were intended as a stimulus to bolster tourism in the city and the county.

We are seeking from the 2009 Legislature authorization to redirect some of these taxes when the debt on the other two stadiums is paid. It is important to get authorization now so that we can issue the debt to begin construction. The University would receive no dollars from these tax sources in the 2009-2011 biennium. The first dollars from these taxes do not become available until 2012 at the earliest and more likely 2013. The Qwest Field dollars do not free up until 2021. So, what we have is a public works project to renovate the state’s largest public football stadium-creating thousands of jobs at a time when the construction industry badly needs the work-and the public dollars to help pay for the project are still years away. We believe this is a sound approach and of great benefit to the state economy now and to the University and its athletic programs for years to come.

I look forward to the discussion at the Senate meeting on Thursday.

Sincerely yours,

Mark A. Emmert

President

It’s Legislative Assembly week and there will be no shortage of discussion about the state’s big shortage of cash. This marks the first time since the election and the most recent revenue forecast that lawmakers have gathered in Olympia for a full slate of committee hearings. Given the growing budget problems facing the state, the election winners may be wondering exactly what it was they won.

For higher education, the week will see hearings on higher education capital financing plans (including branch campuses), the higher education strategic plan, and performance measurement for higher ed. On Thursday, the Senate Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee has slated a hearing on forestry higher education.

Still, the big buzz in town this week will certainly be the recent revenue forecast, which increased the gap facing the state in the next biennium to over $5 billion, and has required additional cuts in the current biennium to make the books balance. Gov. Gregoire is preparing her budget proposal, and a recent article in the Seattle Times outlines the magnitude of the spending cuts being considered. “Ugly” is the most printable word being used to describe the choices facing budget writers this year.

Finally, some news from Ellensburg. Central Washington University has announced that James Gaudino, formerly of Kent State University, has been named the University’s new president, succeeding Jerilyn McIntyre, who retired after eight years in the job.

OFM Director Victor Moore just told the press that they will have to go back out to state agencies to find additional reductions for this biennium.  That’s because with the projected loss of $500 million in 2007-09, the state is now likely in the “red” in the current fiscal year.  This could mean more reductions on top of the $10 million the UW has been asked to find in FY 2009.

Moore also confirmed that the projected budget deficit has now tipped past the $5 billion mark.

The capitol press corps is asking whether the Governor and Legislature can really balance the state budget without increased revenues and so far, the collective response is that they are going to stick with an all reduction solution.

Here’s the official statement from the Governor and her budget office on this morning’s revenue forecast.

In blogging live right now listening to the meeting of the state’s Revenue Forecast Council in Olympia.

Dr. Arun Raha, the state’s chief economist just announced that the state revenue forecast is being adjusted downward by $1.9 billion over the next three years.  That’s right, I said $1.9 billion.

This is comprised of a loss of about $500 million in the current fiscal year which ends next June 30th, an another reduction of $1.4 billion in forecasted revenue for the 2009-11 biennium.

The expected budget deficit for 2009-11 has just pushed past the $5 billion mark.  I hope to have more later.

Here’s the latest information I have on the state legislative races.

In the state Senate, no real change from last week’s update.  The Democrats appear to have lost one seat with the Republicans gaining one for a 31-18 split.  In the 2nd legislative district (SE Pierce County) longtime Democratic incumbent Marilyn Rasmussen has been defeated by Randi Becker, a retired medical administrator from Eatonville.  Democrats were able to hold open seats in the 40th district (Bellingham, San Juan) where Kevin Ranker is the new Senator-elect replacing the retiring Harriet Spanel and in the 41st district (Bellevue, Mercer Island) where current House member Fred Jarrett will replace the retiring Brian Weinstein.  Incumbent Senators held serve in all remaining races.

In the state House, the latest tally seems to indicate that majority Democrats have also lost one seat, dropping from a current majority of 63-35 to a 62-36 advantage over the Republicans.  Here are the changes by district:

6th District (Spokane).  Both incumbents appear to have lost their seats.  Democratic incumbent Don Barlow was defeated by Republican challenger Kevin Parker.  In the other position, Republican incumbent John Ahern is trailing Democratic challenger John Driscoll, by less than 100 votes.  If these results hold, no net change.

17th District (Clark).  In the race to replace Republican incumbent Jim Dunn (who lost in the August primary), Democrat Tim Probst appears to be the winner over Republican Joseph James.  A pick-up for the Democrats.

26th District (Kitsap, Pierce).  In the race to replace retiring Democrat Pat Lantz, Republican Jan Angel has defeated Democrat Kim Abel by a 53-47 percent majority. A pick-up for the Republicans.

44th District (Snohomish).  Incumbent Democrat Liz Loomis (who was appointed to this seat last year when Jon Lovick was elected Snohomish County sheriff) is narrowly trailing Repubilcan challenger Mike Hope by a little more than 100 votes.  If this result holds, a pick-up for the Republicans.

In all the other races, either existing incumbents were re-elected or party control did not change.  Here is a list of new House members by district.

4th District (Spokane Valley).  Republican Matt Shea replaces the retiring Lynn Shindler.  Shea is executive director of the Washington Family Foundation.

7th District (NE Washington).  Republican Shelly Short replaces Bob Sump who retired this year.  Short is a former congressional staffer for Congresswoman Cathy McMorris- Rodgers.

8th District (Benton).  Republican Brad Klippert succeeds Shirley Hankins who also retired this year.  Klippert’s background is in law enforcement and education.

14th District (Yakima).  Yakima City Councilmember Norm Johnson is the new Republican from this district replacing the retiring Mary Skinner.

25th District (Pierce).  Incumbent Republican Joyce McDonald stepped down to run successfully for the Pierce County Council.  Bruce Dammeier, a partner in a commercial printing business, is the new Republican member from this district.

33rd District (King).  Democrat Tina Orwall, a social worker and affordable housing advocate, replaces the retiring Shay Schaul-Berke in this south King County district.

35th District (Mason, Kitsap).  Democrat Fred Finn, a real estate developer and manager replaces the retiring Bill Eickmeyer.

36th District (Seattle).  Mobile phone and software industry executive and State Community and Technical College board member Reuven Carlyle replaces longtime incumbent Helen Sommers in this race that saw two Democrats face off in the general election.

41st District (Bellevue, Mercer Island).  Democrat Marcie Maxwell, a real estate broker and Renton school district and chamber of commerce member will suceed Democrat Fred Jarrett who moves to the state Senate.

46th District (Seattle).  Scott White, a King County Council staffer defeated Gerry Pollett in another all-Democratic general election in the race to succeed Jim McIntire who was elected State Treasurer.

49th District (Vancouver).  Democrat Jim Jacks won the race to succeed the retiring Bill Fromhold.  Jacks served as Governor Gregoire’s SW Washington representative.

At the risk of continuing to beat the bad budget news horse to death, here are a few news items that portend nasty state economic news on the horizon.

State sales tax collections are down below last year as this news item reports in today’s Seattle P-I.

Andrew Garber from the Seattle Times reports that the Governor has no expectations that she will love her budget this year as much as she has previous spending plans.

The Olympian reported this past Monday that state workers are concerned about the potential for layoffs as government downsizing plays out next session.

And here’s a recent blog post that quotes Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish), Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee as saying the budget deficit could balloon to more than $4.6 billion after next week’s revenue forecast update.

And if I remember the words to Fogerty’s song, there was something in the lyrics about “rivers overflowing?”

Here’s an excellent argument for the importance of continuing to support higher education in these exceedingly troubled financial times from Susannah Malarky, Executive Director of the Washington Tech Alliance.

Always nice to hear others express support for what we are all about here at the UW.

While all of the statewide elected races appear to be settled, there are a few possible surprises brewing at the state legislative level.  On election night it looked like Democrats might pick up a seat or two in both the House and Senate.  Now it looks possible that they may lose a seat in each chamber. 

In the Senate, Senator Don Benton (R-17) who trailed on election night has now pulled ahead and returns are trending his direction.  Incumbent Senator Marilyn Rasmussen (D-2) has now fallen behind her challenger, Randi Becker.   If those results hold, the result would be a one seat loss for Senate Democrats. 

In the House, two incumbent Republicans, John Ahern in the 6th District (Spokane) and Norma Smith in the 10th District (Island, Skagit, Snohomish) have pulled very close after trailing on election night.  Given late vote trends and the amount of votes remaining to be counted, they may well pull ahead.  Incumbent Democrat Don Barlow, also in the 6th District, continues to trail and Republicans will pick up a seat in the 26th District (Pierce and Kitsap).  Democrats earlier picked up a seat in the 17th District (Clark). 

Best guess at this point.  The House will be 62 D and 36 R and the Senate will be 31 D and 18 R.  However, as in the stock market, past performance in not a guarantee of future results – there are still a lot of votes to be counted and trends may change.  I expect we will have a better sense of the final count by the middle of next week. 
 

Wow, what an interesting election that was yesterday!  We’ll get to the invididual state races of interest in a second, but from the 50,000 foot level, Democrats seem to have strengthened their hold on power in Olympia.  Governor Gregoire was re-elected by a much wider margin than she enjoyed in 2004 and legislative Democrats appear to have made some additional gains in the Senate and House of Representatives.  Let’s take a quick look at how some of the key races played out.

Governor

Chris Gregoire wins re-election to her second term as chief executive by a margin of about 54%-46% over challenger Dino Rossi.  This might have been the biggest surprise of the evening, at least in terms of how quickly the outcome was determined.  Conventional wisdom before yesterday was this race would be much closer and take days to sort out.

Treasurer

In a close race, state representative Jim McIntire (D-46th district) defeated Republican Allan Martin 52%-48%.  Martin has served as deputy state treasurer under incumbent Mike Murphy.

Lands Commissioner

Democratic challenger Peter Goldmark appears to have defeated Republican incumbent Doug Sutherland for the position of Commissioner of Public Lands.  As of this afternoon, Goldmark had a 14,000 vote margin over Sutherland.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Challenger Randy Dorn, a former state legislator and current head of a school employee’s union appears to have defeated long-time incumbent Terry Bergeson in this non-partisan race.  Dorn’s lead is about 51% to 49% for Bergeson.

Other Statewide Races

Incumbents Rob McKenna (Attorney General), Brad Owen (Lt. Governor), Brian Sonntag (State Auditor), Mike Kriedler (Insurance Commissioner) and Sam Reed (Secretary of State) all easily won re-election to there positions.

State Senate

While a number of races are still very close and final outcomes are uncertain, it appears the majority Democrats have held all of their existing seats and may have possibly picked up one additional seat from the Republicans.  If the results this afternoon stay the same, Democrats would hold a 33-16 majority in the Senate, a net gain of one seat from the last two years.  Here are some results from individual districts of interest.

Incumbent Republican Don Benton is trailing Democratic challenger David Carrier by about 147 votes in the 17th district (Clark County).  This race is too close to call for either candidate at this point, but “could” be a pick-up for the Democrats if results stay the same.  Democratic state house member Fred Jarrett seems to have a lock on the senate seat in the 41st district (Bellevue, Mercer Island) and San Juan councilmember Kevin Ranker appear to have easily won the state senate seat in the 40th district (Bellingham, San Juans) which was held for many years by the retiring Harriet Spanel.  All other Senate incumbents seem to be winning their races, although Democrat Marilyn Rasmussen is in a tight race in the 2nd district (Eatonville, SE Pierce County) with Republican challenger Randi Becker.

State House

Again, many races are still very close and the outcomes will not be known for a few days.  However, if current results were to hold, it looks like Democrats may have picked up at least one additional seat, giving them a 64-34 margin in the House of Representatives.  Here’s a closer look at some key races.

Don Barlow, the first term Democrat in Spokane’s 6th district  is losing to Republican challenge Kevin Parker.  While that’s a gain for the G.O.P., Barlow’s Republican seatmate John Ahern is losing to Democratic challenger John Driscoll so no net change in the balance of power in the state House from this district.

In the 10th district (Stanwood, Camano Island), Democrat Tim Knue appears to be winning his race against Republican Norma Smith who was appointed to the seat last year.  In the 17th district (Clark County), Democrat Tim Probst has easily defeated Republican Joseph James for the seat formerly held by Republican Jim Dunn who was defeated in the August primary election.  Together, these races represent a two seat pick–up for the Democrats.

In the 26th district where long-time Democrat incumbent Pat Lantz is retiring, Republican Jan Angel has a slight lead over Democrat Kim Abel, which could be a pick-up for the Republicans.  There are a couple of other races to watch as well.  In the 5th district (Issaquah, Fall City), Republican incumbent Glenn Anderson is holding on to a slight lead over his Democratic challenge David Spring.  In the 25th district (Fife, Puyallup) where Republican Joyce McDonald is retiring, Republican Bruce Dammeier has a slight lead over Democrat Rob Cerqui.  In the 30th district (Federal Way), incumbent Republican Skip Priest is leading his Democratic challenger Carol Gregory by only 51% to 49%.  All of these are races to keep an eye on in the next few days to see if they would impact the ultimate size of the Democratic majority.

That’s it for now.  We’ll post more information on the election in the next couple of days.

 

The Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) released their preliminary 2009-11 operating budget recommendations today at their monthly meeting held on the UW Seattle campus.

Given the deteriorating budget outlook for 2009-11 which is resulting from significant declines in projected general fund revenues, Board staff have recommended a very modest level of new investments in higher education next biennium.

For example, the Board is not recommending any new funding for compensation increases – the largest single component of all higher education institutional budget requests.  In addition, Board staff are not recommending funding for any “general” enrollment increases, although they did recommend funding for some high demand enrollments and a community college system on-line learning initiative.

For the UW, the HECB operating budget recommendations are as follows:

Maintenance level budget adjustments      $76.9 million
High demand enrollments                        $14.2 million
College of the Environment                      $6.0 million
Biomedical Research                                $4.5 million

TOTAL 2009-11 Increase                        $101.6 million

By the standards of the 2007-09 biennium, these are austere recommendations, particularly the lack of funding for cost of living adjustments for faculty and staff, enrollment increases for the Tacoma and Bothell campuses or funding for many worthy University initiatives.  However, given the worsening state revenue picture (the next forecast is November 19 and is likely to decline again), these budget recommendations could potentially be a high water mark.