Tag Archives: Budget

Senate Proposes Supplemental Budget

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Higher education takes a hit in the Washington Senate’s proposed FY11 supplemental budget. On Wednesday the Senate released their proposed supplemental budget and held a public hearing on the legislation.

Under the Senate’s proposal higher education funding is reduced in total by $27.412 million, including $25.4 million through a tuition transfer from the institutions -public 2-year and 4-year – to the Higher Education Coordinating Board for financial aid.

In addition, the proposed Senate supplemental budget would reduce funding to the Higher Education Coordinating Board ($909,000), Workforce Employment and Training (ESD) ($318,000), and the following HECB programs and services ($632,000): (1) College Readiness Program, (2) Health Sciences and Services Authority (HSSA), (3) student financial aid administration, and (4) the Technology Transformation Task Force. Finally, the proposed supplemental reduces the funds each four-year, public baccalaureate institution pays as members of the Council of presidents ($168,000).

In addition, the proposed supplemental budget makes reductions in several other parts of the state budget including the Basic Health Plan and the Disability Lifeline program.

Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. Neither of the proposed supplemental budgets closes the budget gap in the current fiscal year, both proposals leave an approximate $200 million shortfall. 

The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hold an Executive Session on the proposed supplemental budget at 3:30 this afternoon.

Budget Committees Focus on Issues that Impact Higher Education

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On Thursday the Budget Committees took up a range of issues that impact higher education.

Capital Budget
The House Capital Budget Committee held a public hearing on the Governor’s proposed capital budget for 2011-13. 

 The Governor’s proposed budget woud provide $17.2 million in new state funding for the Communications Laboratory Building Renovation, the Science Center Lab I Second Floor Renovation and Life Safety Code Compliance. Additionally, the Governor appropriates $8.2 million of Evergreen’s building account funds in the capital budget for a variety preventative maintence and building repairs.

John Hurley, Vice President for Finance and Administration testified for The Evergreen State College.

House Ways & Means
The House Ways & Means Committee held a work session on the Governor’s proposed biennial budget for higher education.

The Governor’s proposed biennial budget reduces state funding for Evergreen by 26.3% for the 2011-13 biennium. In addition, the proposed tuition revenue generated leaves Evergreen’s General Operating Fund budget in deficit. The Governor’s budget does not take into account costs associated with over-enrollments and assumes greater  tuition revenue raising capacity. Under this proposal tuition revenue represents 63% Evergreen’s budget compared to 57% last biennium.

Senate Ways & Means
The Senate Ways & Means Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 5162 which would alter the current retire/rehire practices at higher education institutions in Washington.

House Passes Supplemental Budget for Current Fiscal Year

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The proposed supplemental budget for the current fiscal year moved from the Washington House to the Washington Senate today.

This morning the Washington House voted 55-43 to pass House Bill 1086.

Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. The House’s proposed supplemental reduces the budget shortfall by $340 million, leaving approximately $260 million in the red for the year.

House Bill 1086 now goes to the Senate for further consideration. It is expected that the Senate Ways & Means Committee will take up the bill tomorrow afternoon

House’s Proposed Supplemental Budget Moves to the Floor

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Last night Chair Ross Hunter moved the House’s proposed supplemental budget (HB 1086)  from the committee to the House floor.

Members of the House Ways & Means Committee spent several hours discussing various amendments to the bill that impact key parts of the state budget, including K-12, health and human services, and higher education.

The Committee adopted a single amendment that altered the reductions to higher education proposed in the supplemental budget. The proposed supplemental budget reduces funding by $4 million to research for the University of Washington and Washington State University.  The amendment to the bill passed last night requires UW and WSU to limit the impact of this reduction to research functions only.

Reductions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB)  and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) were retained.

The House’s proposed supplemental budget now goes to the House floor for further consideration.

Dialogue with Chair of House Higher Education Committee

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Today The Seattle Times is hosting an online chat to answer questions about the cuts and what impacts they’ll have with Chair Larry Seaquist, House Higher Education Committee.

The chat will begin at 1:00.  You can join in here: Education – Live chat about higher education in Wash. state

The House Higher Education Committee is under new leadership this session. Rep. Larry Seaquist was named chair in December and has since then been working with members to take a fresh look at university funding and issues.

To start the 2011 session, the committee has done a series of informative overviews of various issues affecting our state’s higher education system — which began back in the 1860’s.

Faculty Highlighted in the House and Budgets the Focus of the Senate

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Led by Chair Seaquist the House Higher Education Committee continued its efforts to inform and educate itself about higher education in Washington.

This morning the Committee focused on faculty at both two- and four-year institutions in Washington. Faculty from Washington’s comprehensive institutions, including Evergreen, provided members with insights into who faculty are and what challenges they face in the classroom. Faculty from the research institutions and the community and technical colleges also shared their perspective.

In the afternoon, Higher education advocates, inlcuding the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the Council of Presidents (COP), spoke specifically to the impacts of declining state resources for higher education during the  January 19 Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee’s work session.

Chair Rodney Tom focused the two-hour work session on the impact of reductions in state funding in recent years, highlighting the potential impact of the Governor’s proposed budget.

The work session provided the opportunity for higher education institutions to speak to specific impacts to their institutions through testimony and answer questions from policymakers.

Tuition, Accountability and Budget Topics of Discussion

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Higher education advocates, inlcuding the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the Council of Presidents (COP), spoke to the critical links between state funding, tuition, and financial aid and the role of accountability/performance metrics at the January 18 Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee’s work session.

Chair Rodney Tom focused the two-hour work session on the relationship between tuition, state funding, and accountability and the impact on student access. The work session provided the opportunity for higher education institutions to provide testimony and answer questions from policymakers.

Following informative presentations by the HECB , legislative staff, and COP institutions were provided the opportunity to share their thoughts.  The comments provided by representatives of the public, four-year higher education sector included the impacts of reductions to date, the importance of flexibility, and ideas about accountability and performance metrics.

In the afternoon, the presidents of all six public, baccalaureate institutions engaged the Senate Ways & Means Committee regarding state funding and the impacts of the Governor’s proposed 2011-13 biennial budget.

Chair Ed Murray focused the work session on higher education, including both two- and four-year institutions. 

Kicking off the discussion with an overview, the Council of Presidents highlighted the recent impacts to state funding for higher education and the potential impact of the Governor’s proposed budget. 

The presidents then spoke to the challenges they share with policymakers in funding services and programs for their constituents in a difficult fiscal climate.  The presidents acknowledged the difficult fiscal climate in their comments and asked for the flexibility and the opportunity to work with members to make strategic decisions that will allow institutions to steer through the storm.

WA House Releases Proposed Supplemental Budget

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Higher education is preserved for the most part in the Washington House’s proposed FY11 supplemental budget – HB 1086.

Total spending reductions for higher education funding are $4.5 million, including a $4 million reduction to research for the University of Washington and Washington State University and $541,000 in reductions to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) – $378,000 and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Institute (SIRTI) – $163,000.

The proposed supplemental reduces funding to the following HECB programs and services: (1) College Readiness Program, (2) Health Sciences and Services Authority (HSSA), (3) student financial aid adminsitration, and (4) the Technology Transformation Task Force.

In addition, the proposed supplemental budget makes reductions in several other parts of the state budget including K-12 and health and human services, including a $42 million reduction to K-4 class size enhancement and reductions to the Basic Health Program

The proposed House supplemental budget differs from the Governor in several ways. The House’s proposal maintains current levy equalization for K-12 districts and current funding for Apple Health for Kids and the Disability Lifeline. In addition, reductions were made to the following programs, but not to the level proposed by the Governor – state food assistance, child abuse prevention, prescription drug assistance for seniors, community health clinics, family planning services, and mental health assistance. 

Legislators are trying to close a $588 million shortfall in the fiscal year that ends this June. The House’s proposed supplemental reduces the budget shortfall by $340 million, leaving approximately $260 million in the red for the year.

The House Ways & Means Committee will hold an Executive Session on HB 1086 this afternoon.

Evergreen Opens for House Higher Education

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This afternoon The Evergreen State College opened the House Higher Education Committee hearing.

Ken Tabbutt, Interim Provost, provided the Committee with a brief overview of Evergreen followed by details regarding the impact of the Governor’s proposed 2011-13 operating budget.  Tabbutt highlighted both the fiscal and the policy impacts of the proposed budget. 

  • State funding is reduced for Evergreen by 26.3% for the 2011-13 biennium.
  • Proposed tuition revenue generated leaves Evergreen’s General Operating Fund budget in deficit. The Governor’s budget does not take into account costs associated with over-enrollments and assumes greater  tuition revenue raising capacity
  • Under this proposal tuition revenue represents 63% of Evergreen’s budget compared to 57% last biennium.
  • Assumes Evergreen permanently sustains current over-enrolled levels (2010-2011 4,600 FTE, approx: 400 over-enrolled)
  • Provides funding for the State Need Grant
  •  Eliminates the current per-student funding based budgeting and replaces with degree production based model.
  • Provides $250,000 per year for TRIO program expansion
  • Evergreen is eligible to participate in a new baccalaureate incentive system ($5 million for all public, baccalaureate institutions)
  • Retains proviso limiting where reductions can be made from the prior biennium
  • Removes higher education institutions as recipients of Education Legacy Trust Funds.

In addition, Tabbutt shared with committee members the reductions and efficiencies the College has taken to meet reductions in state funding since 2008 and what is at risk if this trend continues.

Following Evergreen’s presentation the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Workforce Board, and the State Community & Technical Colleges Board provided an overview of the impacts of the Governor’s proposed budgets on their work.

2011 Legislative Session: Week 2

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The second week of the 2011 legislative session will continue to focus on work sessions highlighting hot issues, providing background for legislators, and reporting out the recommendations and work conducted by organizations and agencies during the Interim.

In addition, committees in both chambers will hold public hearings on legislation introduced this session.

Several work sessions and some public hearings are scheduled on critical issues that impact higher education. To learn more follow the links below.

This week the focus of the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will be a review of the Governor’s proposed operating and capital budgets for 2011-13, the impacts of the proposed budget on higher education, and potential action on the supplemental budget.

In addition, the higher education related committees (i.e. House Higher Education and  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) are scheduled to receive updates and learn the latest regarding the work of faculty, impacts of the budget, tuition, accountability measures, and the research taking place at Washington’s institutions of higher education.