The Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee (JLARC) met today to receive a presentation from the state Auditor’s Office on its performance audit report determining the costs per student for medical education at the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine (ESFCOM) and the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The report by the Auditor’s Office highlights the complexity of identifying costs specific to medical education and complications with comparing actual costs to projected costs between two fundamentally very different medical schools at notably opposite stages of development.  WSU’s Chris Mulick, director of state relations; Jim Zimmerman, vice dean for administration, accreditation and … » More …

Legislative leaders released a 2017-19 operating budget agreement today that provides $10 million to fund 60 first year and 60 second year medical students, fulfilling WSU’s top legislative priority.

Budget proposals previously released by the Governor, Senate and House did just the same. The final budget agreement, coming just hours before the onset of the new biennium, now must be approved by both chambers and signed by the governor before going into effect.

Here are the highlights of the operating budget as it pertains to WSU.

The budget:

Provides $10 million for 60 first year and 60 second year students at the Elson S. … » More …

A new forecast of future tax collections has added $79 million in anticipated state revenues for the current two-year budget cycle and another $80 million for the one that begins July 1. That’s a small bump for a state budget that is expected to near $42 billion.

You can read the forecast here and find the press release from the Office of Financial Management here.

That provides a critical piece of information as legislative negotiators work to craft a compromise operating budget to send to the governor. Budgets proposed by the governor, House and Senate all provide $10 million to fund 60 first … » More …

The term “branch” has been officially removed as a descriptor for WSU campuses historically known as branch campuses.

Gov. Jay Inslee signed HB 1107 into law during a bill signing ceremony this afternoon. The bill removes the term “branch” from applicable state laws. It does not change governance or make any other changes.

WSU has supported this bill throughout this year’s legislative session, testifying in support before the Senate on March 16th and before the House back in January.

The … » More …

Leaders in the House of Representatives released their capital budget proposal Wednesday, funding one of two construction requests forwarded by WSU for the Pullman campus.

The plan fully funds WSU’s $38.1 million request to build the first stage of the Global Animal Health Phase II project — the new home of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. But it does not fund WSU’s $58.9 million request to construct the Plant Sciences Building.

Both projects remain in play going into negotiations on a final budget. The Senate plan provides $52 million for Plant Sciences and $23 million to get started on Global Animal Health Phase … » More …