News & Updates

Just finished saying so long to ten members of the House Appropriations Committee who visited the Seattle campus today to learn more about some high profile initiatives recently funded in the 2007 legislative session.  Committee chair Rep. Helen Sommers (D-Seattle) was joined by Vice Chair Rep. Hans Dunshee (D-Snohomish), Rep. Lynn Kessler (D-Hoquiam), Rep. Skip Priest (R-Federal Way), Rep. Kelli Linville (D-Bellingham), Rep. Jim Dunn (R-Vancouver), Rep. Pat Sullivan (D-Covington), Rep. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia), Rep. Eileen Cody (D-Seattle) and Rep. Bruce Chandler (R-Granger) as well as several committee and caucus staff members who made the trip up from the state capital.

Members spent the morning learning about the UW’s new Department of Global Health at a presentation at the Harborview Research and Training Building on First Hill.  Department Chair King Holmes provided an overview of the Department’s major efforts and Chris Murray discussed the newly formed Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a major item included in the University’s 2007-09 operating budget request.  Judith Wasserheit, Vice Chair of the Department introduced two students — Amanda Breed from Nursing and Ashok Reddy from Medicine — who talked about the importance of global health in their academic programs.

The group headed back to the Seattle campus for lunch in the Gates Commons where they were greeted by Dr. Ed Lazowska from UW Computer Science and Engineering who gave a short presentation on the importance of producing more baccalaureate degrees, particularly in the field of computer science.  President Emeritus Lee Huntsman provided the group with an update on planning for a new UW campus in the Snohomish, Island and Skagit county region, a major initiative funded in the biennial capital budget.

The final part of the tour was set aside for a presentation and discussion about the new WWAMI-RIDE initiative in Spokane which was also funded in the 2007-09 biennial operating budget.  Tom Norris, Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Medicine presented the WWAMI expansion plan and School of Dentistry Dean Martha Sommerman and RIDE Director Wendy Mouradian discussed the RIDE program.  Allison Porter, a WWAMI medical student talked about the importance of the program to her medical education and how it distinguishes and enhances the kind of education the UW can provide compared to other medical schools in the country.

It’s always a valuable experience for members to be able to visit and learn about the many programs here on campus in a relaxed manner away from the pressures of a legislative session.  Many thanks to Nancy Mohamed, Julie Monteith, Margi Wadden, Jackie Der and Karin Yukish for helping with planning, logistics and transportation.

Some disturbing news from the state capital surfaced early this week with the announcement that the Liberty Cafe located on the main floor of the Pritchard Library will close next Friday June 29th.  The eatery which serves as a quasi- “town square” during annual legislative sessions apparently can’t make a financial go of things due to a dramatic slowdown in business once legislators leave town.

Now the Liberty Cafe was never going to earn even one Michelin star, but you could get a dependably decent (and sometimes quick) breakfast or sandwich at a reasonable price and the coffee was hot and loaded with caffeine.  More importantly, however, there were lots and lots of tables where impromtu meetings could be held, blackberry’s could be monitored and gossip could be spread quickly and anonymously.

No word yet from the Department of General Administration on a potential replacement.  In the meantime, the Dome Deli located on the ground floor of the Legislative Building will reopen on July 2.

Today’s Olympian has a story about a new hire at WSU.  In an interview with the Associated Press yesterday, President Elson Floyd announced the hiring of John C. Gardner to become WSU’s new Vice President for Economic Development and Extension.  Gardner worked with Floyd at the University of Missouri and his job will be focused on helping develop the state’s economy through research that leads to jobs.

In the same interview, Floyd also expressed an interest in growing WSU’s graduate and professional enrollment at the Pullman campus, but did not see a need to signficantly increase the number of undergraduate enrollments.

I’m still “on call” for jury duty but haven’t been summoned to the courthouse today so I thought I’d post a couple of items you might find interesting.

The state Department of Revenue (DOR) issued a press release yesterday that indicates that Washington residents pay less state and local tax relative to their incomes than residents in 36 other states, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures for Fiscal Year 2005.  Washingtonians rank 37th nationally paying an average of $105.91 in taxes for every $1,000 in personal income compared to the national average of $112.94.

According to DOR this is the lowest ranking for the state since the severe recession of 1981 when the state dropped to 39th.  Washington ranked as high as 11th in the nation in 1998, chiefly because of rapid personal income growth resulting from the “dot com” boom.

And although you’d never believe this judging by the angry letters to the editor I’ve been reading around the state, Washington also fell below national averages in property taxes too.  Property taxes dropped to $30.60 per $1,000 of personal income in Fiscal Year 2005, placing Washington 28th nationally, the same as the prior year.

On the spending side, the Washington Research Council issued a report this past March titled “Trends in State Spending” that looks at the last ten years of state budget expenditure patterns. 

The Council studied “near general fund-state” spending or “NGFS” for short.  This includes the familiar state general fund and eight additional accounts which are similar to the general fund in that the revenue sources are somewhat the same.  These other accounts include the health services account, the student achievement account, the education legacy trust account, the public safety and education account and its equal justice sub-account, the violence reduction and drug enforcement account, the water quality account, and the pension funding stabilization account.

So, what did the Research Council report conclude?  Since 1997-99, the state budget has been dominated primarily by human services spending with most of the growth concentrated in the areas of health care and corrections.  This growth has come primarily at the expense of education (K-12 and higher education) which is the other major category of NGFS spending.

In 1995-97, education represented about 57% of all NGFS spending.  By 2005-07, that percentage share had declined to about 52%, with most of the residistribution going towards the human services spending category.

Within the education category there were some interesting findings as well.  In four of the the six biennia covered in the study, NGFS spending on higher education grew a bit more than overall NGFS spending.  The exceptions were the two biennia affected by the recession — 2001-03 and 2003-05 — in which state spending for higher education actually declined.

The report also conculed that NGFS spending for community and technical colleges grew at a significantly greater rate (or fell at a lower rate) than NGFS spending for four year schools, although the fastest growing segment in all higher education is the Higher Education Coordinating Board due to increased financial aid appropriations.

I will be on jury duty for the next several days and away from the blog during that time.

State Senator Lisa Brown (D-Spokane), Majority Leader of the Senate is leading the state delegation to the 47th Paris Air Show.  The June 18-19 event is held annually and Governor Chris Gregoire tapped the Spokane democrat to lead this year’s Washington contingent, which also includes Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon.

Washington State is home to the largest number of aerospace firms in the world and the Paris Air Show is the gala international event for the aerospace industry.  Joining Brown will be representatives from a variety of aerospace companies in Washington as well as leaders from several community and technical colleges which are part of the state’s aviation training Air Consortium.

The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met today in Olympia to adopt the most recent forecast of state general fund revenue collections.  At the meeting, the Council approved the new forecast which calls for the state to collect an additional $484 million above what was predicted last March.

Dr. Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s chief economist, said that Washington’s economy continues to outperform the U.S. economy, particularly in the areas of construction and real estate.  Software and aerospace are also performing well.  Washington continues to show strong employment growth (2.1%) and the new jobs are predominantly in higher paying job sectors such as aerospace, computer technology, construction and professional and business services.

For the last fiscal year of the current biennium (2005-07), collections are expected to be $195 million higher.  For the coming biennium (2007-09) which begins on July 1, collections are expected to be $289 million higher than anticipated last March, bringing the total forecast adjustment to $484 million.

The new forecast will result in an increase in state reserves.  Unrestricted reserves will increase to $875 million for the 2007-09 biennium.  The Governor and the Legislature have proposed a constitutional amendment for the November general election ballot that would deposit an additional $361 million into a “rainy day fund” for a combined total of $1.236 billion.

Al Ralston, one of the most familiar figures in Olympia and a lobbyist for the Boeing Company for more than 20 years will step down later this summer to become president of the Washington Research Council.  Ralston replaces longtime president Dick Davis who left his post last year to take a position with the Association for Washington Business.  The Washington Research Council was founded in 1954 and is a non-partisan, free-market oriented organization that examines how public policy issues affect business, government and the community.

Several weeks ago we noted that Rep. John Lovick (D-Mill Creek) was planning a run for Snohomish County Sheriff this November.  Lovick is a retired Washington State Patrol officer and a familiar face to TVW watchers as he serves as President Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives and is therefore, often the chamber’s presiding officer.

As Everett Herald columnist Jerry Cornfield writes in Sunday’s edition, the jockeying for Lovick’s seat has already begun.  Three Democratic activists are working hard to gather support for an appointment should Lovick win the county sheriff’s race this fall.  The three are former Snohomish Mayor Liz Loomis, Snohomish County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Hintz and 2006 state senate candidate Lillian Kaufer who lost in the primary last September to Steve Hobbs who went on defeat incumbant Sen. Dave Schmidt in November.

Under state law, if Lovick wins, the Snohomish County Council will choose a successor from among three names given to them by the district’s Democrats.  The person would then need to stand for election in November 2008.

Now that the future fiscal fortunes of the UW have been statutorily linked to the 60th percentile of per student funding in the Global Challenge States, it probably makes some sense to periodically peak in on how things are going for our higher education university brethren in California, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, and Connecticut.

To that end, I have posted a new report under the Spotlight section of the State Relations website titled “Global Challenge State Update.”  The goal of this report, which I intend to update quarterly, is to provide UW officials and others with a quick and “easy to digest” sense of how our competitor institutions are faring in obtaining funding from their respective Governors and state legislatures.

I hope you will find this report interesting and valuable.