Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, June 15, 2001

Depending upon the House’s response, this may be the final compromise legislative package for higher education salaries.

Although the Senate dropped funding for a recruitment and retention pool, this compromise is the best faculty and staff salary increase proposal that has surfaced so far in the legislative sessions. The House recommended a 3 percent increase and the governor only 2.2 percent.

The original Senate budget, passed in March, provided only about $15.5 million of the $20 million necessary to fund WSU's salary increases in the coming biennium. That translates to more than a $4.5 million hole in the university budget. This latest proposal plugs approximately half of that hole, and does not exclude federal land grant employees. The compromise proposal will provide a 2.6 percent salary increase to faculty and staff in 2002, compared to 3.1 percent originally recommended by the Senate. That is the amount originally proposed by the House.

WSU officials praised the latest salary proposal as a "significant improvement," but is urging legislators to consider funding the entire salary base or add money for a recruitment and retention pool.

An amendment by Sen. Larry Sheahan, R-Spokane, to add recruitment and retention pool money was defeated on a largely party-line vote in the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday.

Partial Student Recreation Center Funding

The new $411 million revised Senate operating budget proposal for WSU offered little change in overall funding from previous versions of the House and Senate budget proposals, but it does offer the university flexibility to use new state money to fund some operation and maintenance of the newly-opened Student Recreation Center.

The Senate's revised budget, which passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee Friday, contains $951,000 of funding which budget notes indicate "may be applied at local discretion to meet current instruction and student-related expenses or to help finance the start-up of new degree offerings next biennium."

It is the first budget in the 2001 Legislative Sessions that offers any funding source other than university budget cuts or student tuition increases to solve a $1.8 million hole in the university's operating budget required to maintain and provide utilities to the Student Recreation Center in Pullman.

Lawmakers said they were unprepared to fund operation of a large building that was not built with state funding. The building was built with fees imposed by a vote of the student body. The Senate language, which may represent a negotiated agreement between the two houses that could show up in the final budget, represents a partial victory for the Associated Students of Washington State University which had lobbied hard to secure permanent funding for the facility after funding was cut by House and Senate budgets. Gov. Gary Locke had supported full funding for the recreation center.

Tuition Hike Up to 6.7 Percent

This latest proposal allows the WSU Board of Regents to increase tuition up to 6.7 percent this fall. The revised Senate budget allows for a 6.1 percent increase next year and up to a 12 percent increase for masters students in business administration (MBA.)

Preview to Final Compromise

This latest twist in the budget could be very similar to the final legislative budget approved by lawmakers. Just when a final budget will emerge from the Legislature remains in doubt as negotiators continue to try to hammer out compromises on a variety of issues that don't appear to directly impact higher education. The Tacoma News Tribune reported that such a compromise would not likely occur before late this week.

Other Budget Highlights Include: