Senate budgets fund medical school, top capital priorities

Both the House and Senate have begun unveiling their operating and capital budget proposals on the heels of last week’s strong revenue forecast, with the upper chamber so far checking off Washington State University’s top legislative priorities.

The Senate operating budget funded WSU’s $3.6 million request to complete core funding for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, specifically completing the 20-seat expansion authorized in 2019 by providing for third and fourth-year instruction. The budget also provided $656,000 of WSU’s $931,000 request for maintenance and operation funding for the new academic building under construction at WSU Tri-Cities. This expands on the $497,000 proposed in Governor Jay Inslee’s budget proposal last December.

$2.1 million was also provided in the Senate proposal to fund the Soil Health Initiative, a research program initially passed by the Legislature in the 2020 session but vetoed in March in the wake of the budget crisis presented by the pandemic. The governor also funded the initiative in his December budget proposal.

The Senate budget did not include a furlough program for state employees which had been previously included in the governor’s proposal, which preceded last week’s healthy revenue collections outlook.

Both the House and Senate have also released their proposed capital budgets. All three fund the $8 million demolition of Johnson Hall to make way for the construction of a new USDA building, $8 million to replace a water reservoir on the Pullman campus, $52.6 million for construction of the WSU Vancouver Life Sciences Building, and $4.9 million to design and renovate the Clark Hall Research Lab.

The Senate and House capital budgets match the governor’s proposal of $27.8 million for minor works preservation projects and $6.4 million for minor works endeavors to provide small renovations and improvements.

A breakdown of the remaining capital budget priorities still in play for WSU are as follows:

WSU's Capital
Budget Priorities
Governor's Capital Budget:House Capital Budget:Senate Capital Budget:
$15 million to design and renovate the Spokane Phase One BuildingFundedNot fundedFunded
$500,000 for predesign of a new Sciences Building on the Pullman campusFundedNot fundedFunded
$4.9 million for preservation of STEM Teaching Labs at WSU PullmanFundedNot fundedPartially funded ($2.5 million)

The House operating budget is expected to be released tomorrow afternoon. Both chambers will now begin work to advance their proposals before beginning deliberations on final operating and capital budgets before the Legislature adjourns on April 25th.

You can view WSU’s testimony on the Senate’s capital budget below: