News & Updates

The supplemental operating and capital budgets are now public.  I have posted an updated budget comparison spreadsheet in the Highlights section that includes the final conference proposals for the UW.

More to come later.

Seattle Times Olympia reporter Ralph Thomas has posted a story on the paper’s website that has been in the rumor mill for some time — Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle) is officially planning to step down when her term expires at the end of this year.

The state’s longest serving legislator was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1972, and has served continuously in the House since then.  Currently, she serves as chair of the Appropriations committee which prepares the House version of the state operating budget and only recently finished negotiating the details of the 2008 supplemental spending plan with the Senate.

Sommers has been a strong advocate for higher education and the University of Washington in particular for much of her legislative career.  On a personal note, I post this entry with a mix of both admiration and sadness.  I have known her for most of my 20 years in Olympia and as a Senate Ways and Means staff member, spent many hours in budget briefings and budget negotiations with her, particularly during the 1990’s.  As the UW’s director of state relations, Rep. Sommers has been a true champion of higher education and last year’s 2007-09 biennial budget (the best the University has seen in many, many years) seems like a fitting way to cap her great career.

Day 58 just ended moments ago as both the Senate and House chambers adjourned until tomorrow morning.  Both Houses continue the slow march of passing bills and negotiating the final details of both the operating and capital budgets which will be made public tomorrow morning.  As soon as we have details on the final budget proposals, we will try to get them posted to the State Relations website.

You’ve probably noticed a lot of media coverage about the city of Seattle’s request for $75 million in public financing to renovate Key Arena as part of a push from a new potential local ownership group for either the Supersonics or another NBA franchise.  There’s been an awful lot of lobbying energy on this proposal and on Saturday, a couple hundred Sonic supporters descended on Olympia to rally for support of the request.

In the end, there wasn’t enough interest or time to do something this session.  However, what did emerge yesterday was a letter to Seattle and King County leaders signed by the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader that proposes to include language in the supplemental capital budget to establish a legislative task force to review King County-specific revenue options to fund a number of projects in King County.  The projects mentioned in the letter include arts, low-income housing, education, youth sports, community and economic development, Puget Sound clean-up, Husky Stadium renovation, civic center projects and of course, the Key Arena proposal.

The task force is likely to be comprised of seven members, three from the House and three from the Senate, with one member appointed by the Governor.  The final report with recommendations is due by December 1, 2008.

So, it seems that while funding for a Husky Stadium renovation is certainly not going to happen in 2008, it’s possible that this new King County Projects Financing Task Force might be willing to take up the Husky Stadium renovation issue as part of its work during the 2008 interim.  So, time to take a knee and head into the locker room.  The good news, though, is that it’s probably just halftime and not the end of the game.

Not sure how many of you many have noticed this story in yesterday’s Everett Herald, but supporters of a new UW branch campus in Snohomish County are shopping a bill during the waning days of the 2008 session which would statutorily establish the new UW campus in Snohomish County but not specify the exact location at this time.

According to Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island) has agreed to this new compromise being pushed by Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish) and Rep. Mike Sells (D-Everett).  In addition to not specifying a site, the bill also does not establish a timetable for construction or ask the University to begin delivering any classes this fall.  In essence, the measure would establish the fact that there will be a UW branch campus in Snohomish, with the details to be worked out in a future legislative session.

Last evening, the House Appropriations committee passed a new version of HB 3381 that does include the amendment that was being pushed by higher education institutions to re-authorize tuition and fees for the remainder of the current biennium.  For the time being at least, the UW and other universities and colleges are breathing a huge sigh of relief.  The bill now goes to the House floor and then to the Senate where it is likely to be resolved as part of the final budget negotiations over the next several days.

Well, this has been a very interesting 24 hours.

One of the odd outcomes that resulted from the passage last fall of Initiative 960 (I-960) is the opinion from the state’s Solicitor General that agencies, like the University of Washington, need to ask the legislature this session to essentially “re-authorize” tuition and fee increase authority previously granted in the underlying 2007-09 biennial budget or in existing statutory law.  For all of state government, I have been told there are more than 400 individual fees that need re-authorization this session.

Obviously for the UW, this involves not just undergraduate and graduate tuition amounts, but literally dozens and dozens of individual fees ranging from fee-based programs in Educational Outreach to student activity fees, laboratory fees, health fees, technology fees, etc.  The reason for the uncertainty is that our Regents adopt tuition and fees on an “annual” basis and since I-960 passed last November (before tuition and fees will be adopted by the Regents for the 2008-09 academic year), we need to ask the state legislature for permission all over again in this legislative session.

So, is there a problem?  Well, it’s unknown at this point. Tonight at 6:00 p.m., the House Appropriations committee will hold a public hearing on a brand new bill, HB 3381, that is intended to be an omnibus vehicle for re-authorizing these various fee increases.  The uncertainty at this point is that the bill is what is called a “title only” measure and as of 5:00 p.m. today, does not contain any fee re-authrorization provisions.

The UW, along with other higher education institutions will be testifying this evening in support of an amendment that would provide the necessary statutory re-authorization for all of our tuition and fee increases scheduled to go into effect in the 2008-09 academic year.  Not to worry you to much, but without this amendment, up to $45 million of tuition and fee revenue will be cut from the 2008-09 academic year budget.  That would be a really big problem.

As you can imagine, we have been working pretty hard down here since we got word of the problems with this bill yesterday afternoon.  Keep an eye on the blog for updates on this and other issues as we head towards adjournment next Thursday.

It seems unlikely that on day 53 of this 60-day session that our request legislation to provide $150 million in public financing to renovate Husky Stadium is going to leap to the forefront of “go home” issues (although I am still permitted to dream if I want).  But that doesn’t mean the UW is coming back from Olympia empty-handed.

At the annual TVW banquet on Monday evening at Olympia’s Red Lion Inn, Governor Dan Evans and Ways and Means committee chairwoman Sen. Margarita Prentice (D-Renton) were co-winners of a coveted “Cammy” award.  The Cammy’s are handed out each year at the TVW dinner to recognize some of the most unusual, humorous or embarassing moments from committee hearings or floor action covered by Washington’s public affairs station.  By audience vote, Governor Evans and Sen. Prentice won their Cammy for an exchange that occured in the Ways and Means committee on February 5th during the public hearing on the Husky Stadium bill.

In testimony about the deterioration of the stadium, Governor Evans described the precarious condition of the press box and lamented that it would be a terrible situation to have something happen to the box while it was filled with reporters and other media types.  Recognizing the “high esteem” that some legislators, staffers and lobbyists hold for members of the fourth estate, Evans quickly corrected himself and admitted that many of the committee members might not think that would have been such a horrible outcome.

Here’s a link to actual committee hearing on the TVW website.  The Cammy-winning exchange is between 20:30 and 20:50 of the clip.  Hopefully, we can use this Cammy awad as a springboard to stadium success in 2009.

Much has been happening today as we begin to countdown towards adjournment on March 13.  Here’s a brief summary of what’s making news in the state capitol today of interest to the UW.

Senate Democrats Challenge Initiative 960

Last Friday, Lt. Governor Brad Owen ruled that a legislative measure to apply a surcharge to the state liquor tax would require a two thirds majority of the Senate to pass the chamber.  SB 6931 would have imposed a 42 cent per liter surcharge on state liquor taxes.  It failed to gain the 33 votes needed for passage.

Today. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to overturn Initiative 960’s two thirds vote requirement for tax increases.  Brown argues that I-960 — a state statute — cannot amend the state constitution which says the Legislature passes bills with a simple majority vote.

Highway 520 Bill Continues to Move

HB 3096, which would establish an implementation committee to evaluate tolling options for the state route 520 bridge replacement project cleared the House of Representatives 63-30 last Friday and was heared today in the Senate Transportation Committee where it is expected to pass and be referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

The measure also requires the bridge to be designed to accomodate effective connections for transit, including high capacity transit, to the light rail station at the University of Washington.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports this afternoon on their website that Governor Gregoire announced today that the bridge replacement project can be completed as early as 2014 and for $500 to $700 million less based on work completed by the state Department of Transportation.

New Twist on Stadium Taxes

The House Finance Committee today passed a new measure (HB 3380) that would use some of the revenues currently pledged for Safeco Field bonds for low income housing, once those bonds are retired in 2012.  The measure, sponsored by Rep. Ross Hunter (D-Medina) also includes provisions of another bill (SB 6638) sponsored by Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) which would dedicate future hotel/motel tax revenues currently pledged for Qwest Field to King County arts organizations beginning in 2021.

In related developments, representatives from the city of Seattle and other organizations have been meeting with the Governor, Senate and House leaders and other senior officials to discuss funding for the potential renovation of Key Arena.  As has been reported in the Seattle papers, much of the impetus for these new discussions are based on a new group of potential local buyers for the Supersonics or another NBA team which has recently been organized.

Chang Mook Sohn Announces Bid for State Treasurer

Dr. Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s longtime chief revenue forecaster, announced his candidacy today for State Treasurer.  Sohn recently retired from his position as director of the state’s economic and revenue forecast council.  He will challenge Rep. Jim McIntire (D-Seattle) in the Democratic primary this August.

Democratic incumbant Mike Murphy is retiring this year and backing his deputy Allan Martin who is running in the Republican primary.  Sohn is being endorsed by former Governor Gary Locke and former state treasurer Dan Grimm as well as many other state leaders.  This is his first bid for elective office.

Washington State Chosen One of Top Three Best State Governments

The Pew Center on the States have decided that Utah, Virginia and Washington (yes, our Washington) has one of the most effective state governments in the nation.  The center ranked states based on how well the manage budgets, staff, infrastructure and information.  Washington was lauded for Governor Gregoire’s “GMAP” efforts that bring agency leaders together with the Governor’s senior management team in a public setting to monitor how state programs are working.

The next (and likely final) campus legislative briefing will be held next Tuesday, March 4 from 11:00 a.m. to noon in the Regents Room in Gerberding Hall.

House and Senate budget proposals have passed their respective chambers so negotiations begin in earnest next week.  Today is the last day for policy committees to consider bills from the opposite house and fiscal committees must complete their work by Monday.  The end of session is near and by Tuesday, most legislators, staffers and lobbyists will be counting backwards from the scheduled adjournment date of March 13.

See all of you Tuesday morning.

During their executive session on the 2008 supplemental operating budget this afternoon, the Senate Ways and Means committee added $1 million to the University’s budget for the eScience Institute proposal that was part of the UW’s original supplemental budget request.  The amendment was co-sponsored by Senators Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) and Senator Brian Hatfield (D-Raymond).  Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle) who is not on the committee also played an important role in advocating for the amendment.

The committee also added funding for a Ruckelshaus Center study related to patient safety (which was included in the House budget) and funding related to bills dealing with improving medical care for persons with developmental disabilities.

The funding for the eScience Institute comes from the state general fund, but a corresponding transfer from a state convention and trade center account was made in order to maintain the Senate’s existing general fund reserve.

The full Senate should take action on the supplemental budget tomorrow or Friday.  Negotiations on differences between the two chambers will begin next week.