The Washington Legislature convened at noon today to kick off its 105-day session. Legislators were sworn in during opening ceremonies and the first committee meetings of the year commenced. Issues taking center stage include compensation, housing, behavioral health, workforce shortages, early learning and public safety among other topics facing lawmakers. The governor’s proposed operating and capital budget proposals will be heard in both chambers later this week.
Washington State University’s legislative agenda for the 2023 session contains the following summarized priorities:
- WSU is requesting cost-of-living adjustments for WSU faculty, staff and graduate students. The request would be for $34.5 million in the state’ 2023-25 biennial operating budget to provide salary increases of 4 percent and 3 percent for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, respectively.
- WSU is requesting $4.4 million to support the College of Nursing’s reaccreditation effort. The university used reserve funds to temporarily cover the cost of salary enhancements to improve that standing to 50th percentile of peer institutions and 50th percentile of nurses with similar credentials. WSU is asking the state to fund those enhancements on an ongoing basis.
- WSU has further requested $2.3 million in biennial funds to support the creation of a social work program at WSU Tri-Cities and $3 million to establish a new public health degree program with an emphasis in infectious disease in Pullman and on behavioral health in Spokane and Vancouver.
- In the capital budget — where WSU is prioritizing projects that reduce deferred maintenance —$40 million is requested to match with another $40 million in donor funds to construct an engineering student services building for the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture in Pullman. Another $22 million is requested to begin the process of securing a new Science Building in Pullman. WSU’s capital request also includes $10 million for the Phase I renovation of the Knott Dairy Center and $8 million to renovate Bustad Hall with simulation space for the College of Veterinary Medicine. In Spokane, WSU is seeking $7 million to design the Spokane Team Health Building, which will provide simulation and clinical research space for the colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy on the space-constrained campus. The university’s top capital budget request is $40 million in minor works preservation dollars to fund dozens of small maintenance projects, such as roof and boiler replacements, across the WSU system.
For more details, you can find WSU’s 2023 legislative agenda here.