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 II.
The House and Senate plans both fund two other priority projects — the design of the WSU Tri-Cities Academic Building and the predesign of the WSU Vancouver Life Sciences Building. The House plan provides $28 million for minor capital preservation and $1 million of a $4.9 million request to upgrade STEM teaching labs in Pullman.
The House budget also provides $2 million to purchase equipment for the Joint Center for Deployment and Research in Earth Abundant Materials, a research collaboration between WSU, the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to support the development of technologies that typically rely on precious metals.