Usually supplemental budgets live up to their name—they merely supplement what has been decided in the previous session of the state Legislature. But for this year’s budget makeover, the situation was different. Olympia was sitting on a huge surplus, and both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office were controlled by the same party.
The result was a $1.3 billion budget redo signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, ’69, ’71, on March 31. Lawmakers set aside $940 million to cover future needs but they also approved an additional $18.1 million in new funding for the University of Washington.
“The new UW spending is really an investment,” explains State Relations Director Randy Hodgins, ’79, ’83. “You can be rock-solid certain that investments in the UW will pay off for the state of Washington.”
A key part of the UW package is an extra $2.5 million to add 150 “high demand” student enrollments beginning this fall.
Hodgins is also pleased that the state will pick up some of the operation and maintenance costs for two new research facilities built without any state funds—the South Lake Union Phase Two biomedical complex and the William Foege Building on campus. “It is absolutely catalytic what a small investment can do,” he says.
One of those catalysts is another budget item—$4.5 million to renovate part of Fluke Hall for a new nanotechnology laboratory. Lawmakers also made a crucial investment in the future of UW Tacoma by authorizing $4 million in bonds to purchase property for future expansion.