The state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council issued a new report today indicating tax collections over the past month have been slightly lower than expected. Collections for the month that ended Thursday were $7.6 million, or 0.7 percent, lower than the forecast in February. Cumulatively, collections are $9.6 million, or 0.3 percent, higher than the […]
Gov. Chris Gregoire this afternoon signed into law the rewrite of the state’s two-year operating budget that was approved by the Legislature last month. The budget was notable for higher education in that it contained no general reductions for the state’s colleges and universities or for student financial aid programs despite another steep budget shortfall. […]
Proving it’s never too early to start worrying about the next state budget, a new report issued this week indicates tax collections for the past month were better than projected. In total, collections are up 1 percent since the February revenue forecast, which the Legislature used to build the supplemental budget approved yesterday. Such reports […]
For the first time in four years the Legislature passed a budget that saves WSU and other higher education institutions from cuts to funding. The budget also allows WSU to grow its engineering program through increased enrollments and to finish construction of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Building in Spokane. President Floyd highlights the events […]
The state House and Senate approved a supplemental operating budget that contained no general cuts to higher education this morning and adjourned for the year. They also approved a construction budget that will allow for the completion of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Building in Spokane while also providing $1.8 million for engineering laboratory equipment […]
New operating and capital budget proposals introduced by leaders in the House of Representatives yesterday morning showed little change over prior versions. You can find operating budget documents here and capital budget documents here. The operating budget proposal continues to show no general reduction to higher education and states that new engineering enrollments must be […]
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed three of WSU’s priority efficiency bills today. House Bill 2585 is a measure that will ease restrictions on an array of business practices for the state’s public baccalaureate institutions relating to procurement, travel, direct deposit and advance purchasing of maintenance agreements. It was the largest of a package of regulatory reform […]
The governor signed House Bill 2422 today relating to the production of aviation biofuels. WSU, a national leader in bioproducts research, helped craft the legislation to help spur the commercialization of aviation biofuels. You can read our previous coverage of this legislation here, here and here. Check out video coverage of the signing and the […]
The Seattle Times published a story over the weekend outlining regional efforts to make the Northwest a hub for the development of aviation biofuels. You can find it here. As a national leader in biofuels research, WSU has had a significant hand in this. The university was among the sponsoring organizations for the Sustainable Aviation […]
A new budget proposal released today in the state Senate avoids general cuts to higher education. You can read the Seattle Times coverage here. The proposal was released by the coalition of senators that approved an earlier version in the upper chamber two weeks ago. You can find details here. None of the supplemental operating […]