The supplemental operating budget proposal outlined by leaders in the state House of Representatives Tuesday funds a requested budget fix for the WSU Energy Program, makes a big investment in the State Need Grant but doesn’t fund the university’s request for the JCDREAM advanced materials initiative.
The university’s request of $1.272 million to correct an oversight and fund last year’s bill to expand and transfer the state’s solar energy program to the WSU Energy Program is now funded in all three budget proposals. The governor and Senate proposed funding it earlier.
Proposals by the governor and Senate also funded WSU’s $500,000 request to support the Joint Center for Deployment and Research in Earth Abundant Materials — a WSU led research collaborative with the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Lab – but the House plan unveiled Tuesday does not.
Both the House and Senate budgets make new investments in the State Need Grant. The House plan adds $25 million to reduce the ranks of the eligible but unserved by 6,200. The Senate plan provides $9.8 million to reduce those ranks by 2,500.
Both the House and Senate budgets will be heard in their respective committees this afternoon with the expectation of being moved out later this week. After both chambers vote their budgets off the floor, legislators will negotiate a compromise to send to the governor.
UPDATE: Below, you can view WSU’s Tuesday testimony on the House budget in the Appropriations Committee