News & Updates

Nothing like waking up to the clock radio for the first time in two weeks to ram home the point that vacation is truly over.  Looks like I timed the weather just about perfectly too as the thunder and rain rumbles over red square this morning.

Quite a lot going on as most of you all know by now.  There is a state freeze on hiring, out of state travel, equipment and other purchases which was announced just two weeks ago this Monday.  State revenue collections posted another $60 million loss in July, the second month in a row that they have been that much below expectations.  The political season is also heating up with campaign signs, and television and radio commercials in full swing.

With the primary election less than one day away, here’s an interesting story from the Tri-City Herald’s Chris Mulick on how legislative leaders are viewing the importance of tomorrow’s “top two” election.

As soon as I work my way through the backed-up messages and inbox, I’ll get back to more regular posts.

The blog is going on vacation.  Well, maybe not the same vacation Jimmy Stewart took in that old movie but I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation.  I’ll be back to regular blog posting on August 18.

In the meantime, don’t forget to vote in the state primary election on August 19.

Washington State’s population continues to grow, but at a slower pace than in previous years according to a new analysis prepared by the Office of Financial Management (OFM).

Our state’s population has now topped 6.5 million people, an increase of about 100,000 or 1.5% over the past year.  Slowing economic conditions has reduced the number of people moving into the state, even though the state economic conditions are better than many other states in the country.

Since the last census in 2000, Washington’s population has grown by about 700,000.  Seattle is now the 24th largest city in the nation (right behind Boston) with almost 600,000 residents.  Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Bellevue are the next four largest cities in the state.

The fastest growing counties continue to be Franklin (in the Tri-Cities area), Clark (in southwest Washington) and Thurston, which now has a county-wide population of nearly a quarter million residents.

In case you missed this yesterday, the Seattle Times ran a very complimentary editorial about the new Innovation Research Teams (IRT) program (also referred to as the “Star Researchers” program) which was created in the 2007-09 biennial budget act.

As you may recall, the program ran into some trouble this past session when the House Appropriations Committee proposed cutting funding for the new effort which provides resources to recruit scientists to Washington’s research universities who have the potential of transferring their knowledge into the private sector.  Funding was ultimately restored (and even enhanced slightly) and both the UW’s Michael Hochberg and WSU-Tri Cities Birgitte Ahring are working hard to make their mark in Washington State.

The future of the IRT program in the next biennium has yet to be written but both schools would like to see funding increase so that additional “star” research talent can be brought to the state to help fuel economic growth.

This afternoon, President Emmert appeared before the monthly meeting of the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) in Seattle to present the University’s 2009-11 biennial operating budget proposal (just adopted last Thursday by the Board of Regents) and to discuss the UW’s 10-year enrollment and degree production plans.

Emmert’s appearance before the HECB was a joint presentation with WSU President Elson Floyd and focused on the contributions of Washington’s two research universities to meeting the state’s educational and economic development needs.  A copy of the two presidents powerpoint presentation will be posted to this website tomorrow.

In a separate presentation, Emmert then discussed the UW’s recently released 10-year enrollment and degree production plans which were unveiled last Thursday at a meeting of the Board of Regents.  That plan, which calls for increases in enrollments and degree production at all three UW campuses received some nice praise in this editorial which appeared in the Sunday Seattle Times.  A copy of this presentation will also be posted to the State Relations website tomorrow.

For those of you interested in a summary of the UW operating budget request, the final slide of the enrollment and degree production powerpoint presentation has a nice summary of each of the requested budget items tied directly to its corresponding HECB strategic master plan goal.

The UW’s biennial capital budget request will be submitted to the Board in mid-August and the more detailed operating and capital budget submittals are due to the Office of Financial Management in September.

Too much going on this week to have managed to get this posted on Wednesday, but wanted to let those of you following the Husky Stadium issue know that the task force charged with developing recommendations on future use of revenues from Safeco Field, Qwest Field, the Kingdome and possibly the State Convention and Trade Center met this past Wednesday morning in Olympia.

Co-chairs Sen. Tracey Eide (D-Federal Way) and Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Bellevue) were joined by all five other members in hearing a lengthy presentation from House and Senate committee staff on the details and history of funding of professional sports facilities in King County.  According to the staff presentation, the first hotel/motel tax credits were enacted more than four decades ago in 1967 and were used to help finance the now demolished Kingdome.  Over the years, additional taxes on hotel/motel stays, rental car use, restaurant meals and simple diversion of general fund tax revenues have been passed to finance additional professional sports venues in the state’s largest county.

Most of the meeting was devoted to what I might term “King County stadium revenues 101.”  At the close of the almost two hour meeting, committee members had a chance to talk about other issues and matters they would like to hear discussed over the next few months.  At least three additional meetings are planned this fall, and it is likely the University will be permitted to make a presentation on its stadium renovation proposal at one of those hearings.  Judging by the number of interested parties in the audience, this should prove to be one of the liveliest and best attended joint legislative committees we have seen in a long time.

Yesterday, Governor Chris Gregoire appointed the first student to the UW Board of Regents who is a student at the University of Washington – Tacoma.  Jean-Paul Willynck, a senior Urban Studies major was appointed to a one-year term to the board effective July 1.  As a student regent, Willynck will represent the interests of all three campuses even though he is the first student regent not to hail from the Seattle student body.  Willynck was one of more than 3,000 students who applied for the position.  He has been an active participant in the UW Tacoma’s student legislative and advocacy committee and has lobbied for student issues in Olympia.

Chris Mulick from the Tri-City Herald posted this story a couple of days ago about the potential fiscal impact of two initiatives which I wrote about in the blog last week that are likely to appear on the November 2008 ballot.

Tim Eyman’s Initiative 985, which would redirect 15% of the state sales tax on the sale of new and used vehicles to traffic congestion relief projects, could cost the state general fund $290 million over the next three fiscal years according to a preliminary analysis by the Department of Revenue.  Another measure, Initiative 1029, which is backed by the Service Employee’s International Union and calls for increased training for homecare workers, could cost $23 million based on an analysis of a similar measure which was considered but not enacted during the 2008 legislative session.

Combined, these two initiatives would add another $313 million to the general fund ledger for 2009-11 which is already anticipated to have a gap of $2.7 billion according to the most recent projections by the staff to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.  Mulick points out that a $3 billion deficit represents about 9 percent of total general fund spending and does not yet factor in the cost of the working family tax credit which was enacted this year but not yet funded.

Full reports outlining the policy and fiscal impact of all initiatives on the November ballot should be available by this September.

The University of Washington got some good news late last week regarding a complaint filed several months ago with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).

Last February, Rep. Glenn Anderson (R-Fall City) filed a complaint with the PDC alleging that a recent publication of the College of Education “Taking Measure: Does Modern Math Education Add Up?” was an attempt by the UW to lobby the state legislature on proposed math learning standards as provided by 2SSB 1906 (chapter 396, Laws of 2007).

As the UW Director of State Relations, I responded to the complaint on behalf of the University during the 2008 session.  We denied that the publication in question constituted lobbying.  In addition, we pointed out that the report in question is part of a regular series of publications that the College of Education has produced for several years around a single educational issue, the most recent report focusing on math education.  The purpose of these publications is to share university research on an important educational policy topic with the educational community, state legislators, business groups and the general public.

On July 2, PDC Executive Director Vicki Rippie sent this letter, dismissing the complaint against the UW filed by Rep. Anderson.  Commission investigators concluded that the publication in question was part of the College of Education’s normal practice of making its research available to a broad spectrum of interested parties and that no evidence was found that the report constituted prohibited lobbying.

Got some nice feedback from the link I posted a few weeks ago to a news parody in The Onion on education.

Here’s another satirical story about a new innovation that’s sure to revolutionize graduate education in the U.S.

Have a great weekend!