Leadership in the state Senate on Monday introduced a supplemental budget proposal that funds both of WSU’s operating budget priorities for the 2018 session.
The rewrite of the two-year budget approved last year includes $1.272 million to correct an oversight and fund last year’s legislation to expand and transfer the state’s solar energy incentive program to the WSU Energy Program. It also funded WSU’s $500,000 request to hire a full-time director for the Joint Center for Deployment and Research in Earth Abundant Materials. WSU leads the legislatively approved advanced materials research collaborative with the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with participation from other state universities and community colleges. The request also includes funding to support a small competitive research grants program.
Both priorities were funded in the budget submitted in December by Gov. Jay Inslee. The House is expected to unveil its proposal tomorrow. Both the Senate plan and the House proposal are scheduled to be heard in budget committees tomorrow afternoon.
UPDATE: Below, you can view WSU’s Tuesday testimony on the Senate budget in the Ways and Means Committee.