Budgets, furloughs, financial aid still to be determined

OLYMPIA –
Legislators are attempting to press forward on heavy legislation before the scheduled adjournment of the special session Tuesday at midnight.

 

Successfully completing the work of the 2010 Legislature by Tuesday’s deadline is uncertain. The business that remains includes setting WSU’s supplemental operating and capital budgets for the coming year, determining state student financial aid, a possible higher education lottery, and employee furlough legislation.

 

Last week, most legislators were gone from Olympia. In their absence, Democratic legislative leaders apparently reached agreement on the $800 million revenue package they believed necessary to plug a $2.8 billion hole in the state budget. An agreement eluded them during the 60-day regular session and into 26 days of the 30-day special session called by the governor.

 

Leadership is counting votes to see if the “go home” revenue package – with a 50-cent per gallon tax on beer and no general sales tax increase – can pass. It needs at least 25 votes in the Senate and 50 votes in the House. Other tax increase items in the package include professional services, cigarettes and other tobacco, bottled water, candy, gum and soda pop.

 

If legislative leaders get the votes on revenue, they can move forward with the supplemental state budgets. The tax bill under consideration is Second Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6143.

 

The budgets will dictate the outcome of most issues WSU needs resolved by the 2010 Legislature.

 

An apparent agreement on revenues probably will bode well for an acceptable outcome on student financial aid grants. The governor and legislators had tied the state need grant program to tax increases.

 

There will be reductions to account for anticipated increases in federal Pell grants but there is optimism that the state need grant program, which has an anticipated budget of more than $200 million in the coming year, will be able to serve most existing students. Less certain is whether other programs such as state work study will remain intact.

 

The final budget cut number for WSU is expected to be in the $13 million to $15 million range. That is close to the Senate cut level of $13.7 million or about 6.7 percent. The House initially proposed an $8.6 million reduction or about 4 percent.

 

Each house has passed a different supplemental capital construction budget bill, but no agreement has been announced on a House-Senate compromise.

 

The Senate version, ESSB 6364, proposes design funding for a 46,000 square foot expansion of the WSU Riverpoint Biomedical building to provide for more medical education in Spokane. However, there is no word yet on whether the House can agree to that.

 

Both the Senate version and the House version, HB 2836, authorize $15 million in new funding for WSU student information systems. Both bills reduce funding for the Vancouver Applied Technology Classroom building by $3.1 million to bring the construction budget to $33.6 million.

 

Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6409, creating a state lottery marketing campaign pegged to public colleges and universities, is back on the front burner in the Legislature. The bill has passed the state Senate twice but has never come to a vote on the House floor. It is second on the list for consideration.

 

A twist last week was that the bill is considered to be part of the new proposed “revenue package.” It is assumed that the bill will bring an additional $15 million to state coffers in the coming year. That, apparently, is an issue in budget negotiations. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, and has been supported by WSU.

 

The latest version of this bill (Senate Bill 6503) impacting all state agencies would require WSU to get a plan approved by the governor’s budget office next month to achieve the “temporary budget savings” in the next fiscal year. If the plan is not approved, the university would be ordered to close most of its non-teaching operations for 11 days of the coming year and “furlough” employees.

 

Furlough means salaries of most employees would be reduced by an average of 11 days of pay for the coming year. The bill carries an assumption that the salaries would be restored in July 2011. The bill has passed both houses of the Legislature in different forms during the special session.

 

One important issue that must be resolved by the Legislature is whether the temporary cuts identified by this bill will be part of or in addition to the cuts that will be made to WSU and other agencies in the supplemental operating budget.

 

Legislation creating incentives for global health products manufacturing in the state was signed into law this week by Gov. Christine Gregoire. John Gardner, WSU vice president of economic development, was on hand for the bill signing in Olympia, along with former Secretary of State Ralph Munro and health organization leaders.

 

The legislation promotes technology transfer in WSU priority areas such as health sciences and global animal health. The bill becomes effective 90 days after adjournment of the special session, which is in mid-July. The impact of the bill still hinges on financial decisions and language in the supplemental budget bill.

 

Technology transfer bill signed

Legislation that clarifies it is the mission of universities to transfer their research into commercial activities was also signed by the governor this week. Representatives of UW and WSU were on hand for the signing of the bill sponsored by Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Ed Murray, D-Seattle.

 

Small business development center bill in doubt

Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2641, providing funding for WSU Small Business Development Centers, is reportedly still alive in the final days of the special session. However, the bill has not come to a vote on the House floor. The legislation provides for a $5 voluntary fee from applicants or renewals for state business licenses.

 

WSU has tracked more than 80 bills during the 2010 regular and special session of the Washington State Legislature. For the latest status on each bill and links to actual language and bill reports, go to: http://www.olympia.wsu.edu/Status/2010_BillStatus_Nine.aspx.

 

A list of just the special session bills is available at: http://www.olympia.wsu.edu/Status/2010_Special_Three.aspx Legislation that appears to be alive in the special session or has passed the 2010 sessions is marked in green.Legislation that appears dead for this year is marked in red.

 

Olympia Update is produced for persons interested in state government developments affecting WSU. For more information, go to www.olympia.wsu.edu. Contact: Larry Ganders, assistant to the president, 360-534-2330. From WSU campuses, dial 4-2330. If you wish to subscribe to Olympia Update directly by e-mail, go to www.olympia.wsu.edu/Update.aspx