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News & Updates

News & Updates

New Higher Education Policy Advisor for Governor Gregoire

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Back from a quick family vacation and during the drive home yesterday, I realized that I missed updating all of you on an important staff change in the Governor’s policy office.

In late February, Debora Merle (who has served as the Governor’s higher education policy advisor since the beginning of her administration), left Olympia to become Executive Director of the California State Board of Education.  As someone who came from California to Olympia many years ago, I joked that she was literally jumping from one frying pan into another, and in Sacramento, it gets so hot in the summer it is both figuratively and literally like a frying pan.  Moreover, their sessions go on forever, but Deb was undeterred and ready for a new challenge.  We wish her the best of luck.

Recently, the Governor’s policy office announced the hiring of Chris Alejano as the Governor’s new higher education policy advisor.  Chris is a doctoral student at the UW in educational policy and leadership and was a member of the Washington Learns Higher Education Advisory Committee.  He also recently served as a research analyst during the 2007 session on the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee.  Chris started work on April 1 and all of us in the higher education community are looking forward to working with Chris as we move forward in developing our 2009 policy agendas.

No Changes from Gov in Supplemental Capital Budget

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Just got a chance to review the Governor’s veto message on the 2008 supplemental capital budget and there are no changes that impact the University.  On the positive side, this means the $3 million for the UW Tacoma campus land acquisition and soils remediation project remains intact and $300,000 to conduct a pre-design study for a future expansion of the Burke Museum is preserved.

On the negative side, the UW’s request for a gubernatorial veto of the legislative cut to the four year institution’s cost allocation pool was not granted.  This means there is no funding remaining in that pool to allocate to the Playhouse Theater renovation project which is $1.3 million overbudget.

With the Governor’s signature on the operating and capital budgets and all remaining legislation yesterday, the 2008 session is now officially over.

Gov’s Veto Pen Does Not Spare Higher Ed or the UW

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Governor Gregoire took action today on the 2008 supplemental budget.  As expected before signing the bill into law, she exercised her veto power to eliminate about $15 million in state general fund spending from the legislatively enacted budget, increasing the size of the state’s total budget reserves from $835 million to $850 million.  Few agencies were spared and the UW and higher education were definitely impacted.

For the University of Washington, the Governor vetoed $488,000 in new legislative budget enhancements.  These include:

  • $88,000 for one additional mental health counselor position (the Governor vetoed similar funding in all public baccalaureate institutional budgets).
  • $200,000 for a study of the low dissolved oxygen content in Hood Canal.
  • $135,000 for undergraduate and graduate fellowships in overseas trade offices.
  • $65,000 for the state climatologist.

Other UW operating budget items — including $1 million for the new eScience Institute — were spared the budget axe.

In a somewhat surprising move, the Governor vetoed $1 million in new funding for additional childcare funding for students in the two-year and four-year institutions which was the top 2008 legislative priority for the Washington Student Lobby.  The funds were split evenly between the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

As of this evening, details on the Governor’s vetoes in the supplemental capital budget were not yet available.  Hope to have those summarized tomorrow.

 

Governor to Sign Operating and Capital Budgets Tomorrow

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Just got word this morning that the Governor will take action on the 2008 supplemental operating and capital budgets tomorrow, April 1, at 2:00 p.m.  Apparently the Governor has been working her way line-by-line through both budgets and some vetoes of new legislative spending items are expected.  The UW is also watching the capital budget to see if the Governor will veto the legislative reduction in the four year institution’s cost allocation pool which was taken this session.  These funds are needed to help with cost overruns on the Playhouse Theater project.

Stay tuned tomorrow afternoon for more supplemental budget news.

Several Members Set to Retire in 2008

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Although the official news of Rep. Helen Sommers decision to not seek another term in the state House rightly dominated much of the end of session press coverage, a number of other legislators have decided to call it a day at the end of their current terms.  Here’s the current list of those state elected officials who will not return in 2009 so far:

Statewide Elected Officials

Mike Murphy, State Treasurer who will retire.

Senate

  • Harriet Spanel (D-Bellingham) who serves as the Majority Caucus Chair who will retire.
  • Brian Weinstein (D-Mercer Island), chair of the Senate Consumer Protection and Housing committee (some press reports have indicated Weinstein is reconsidering his pre-session decision to not run for re-election).

House of Representatives

  • Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle), chair of the House Appropriations committee who will retire.
  • Rep. Bill Fromhold (D-Vancouver) chair of the House Capital Budget committee who will work for the MAP program.
  • Rep. Pat Lantz (D-Gig Harbor) chair of the House Judiciary committee who will retire.
  • Rep. Shay Schual-Berke (D-Normandy Park), vice chair of the House Capital Budget committee who is moving to New Zealand with her husband.
  • Rep. Joyce McDonald (R-Puyallup), ranking minority member on the House Capital Budget committee who will run for a seat on the Pierce County Council.
  • Rep. Jim McIntire (D-Seattle) who is running for State Treasurer.
  • Rep. Lynn Schindler (R-Spokane), House Republican Whip who will retire.
  • Rep. Bill Eickmeyer (D-Belfair) who will retire.
  • Rep. Bob Sump (R-Republic) ranking minority member on the House Ecology and Parks committee who will retire.

UW North Sound Must Wait Another Year

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One thing I forgot to mention in the last post is the ultimate fate of the UW North Sound campus.  In short, it’s not happening this year at all.  All that’s left in the operating or capital budget is a $100,000 appropriation to the Higher Education Coordinating board to convene the interested parties in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties to see if they can come to a consensus on a site recommendation before the 2009 session.

Here’s a story in today’s Everett Herald with reaction from many of the legislative participants.

2008 Supplemental Budget Assessment — Not Bad, Not Bad At All

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Well, now that we’ve all had a chance to digest the details of the final legislative supplemental operating and capital budgets, I’ve come to the conclusion that given the Governor’s desire to maintain a large budget reserve, the precipitous $423 million drop in revenues in February, the $91 million in increased mandatory expenditures that were estimated the same month, and high quality of the underlying budgets for higher education, all in all, the University turned just fine in the final supplemental tally.

Let’s look at the short list of accomplishments:

  • $1.0 million in ongoing support for the eScience Institute.
  • $3.0 million for UW Tacoma land acquisition and soils remediation.
  • Increased funding for Star Researchers by $265,000 while protecting the base funding from reductions.
  • Insured authorization for $45 million in tuition and fee revenues for the UW’s 2008-09 academic year budget.

We also managed to pass a few bills of importance and fix a few with problems.  I hope to have a summary of those posted to the website soon.

Sure there are always budget disappointments, particularly not being able to plug the cut in last year’s budget for non-resident graduate students, the College of the Environment and domestic health metric research proposals and securing funding for childcare for faculty and staff.  But, we live to fight for those another day.

Thursday is Sine Die and then the 2008 legislative session will be a memory.  As usual, our preparation for the 2009 session begins this coming Monday because on Friday, I think I just might play a little golf.