Investing in the Future
The Washington State Legislature’s budget determines which programs and projects, including financial aid and hands-on learning, will be funded in the coming year. Despite significant challenges, the most recent session produced exciting results, particularly for higher education in general and WSU in particular.
2023 Legislative Victories Include:
$40 million for minor works preservation projects to address deferred maintenance needs across the WSU system.
$13 million for minor works program projects across the WSU system to fund small scale renovation and equipment purchases.
$1.6 million to establish a four-plus-one bachelor’s plus master’s degree at WSU Tri-Cities.
$5 million to support efforts to meet the state’s new clean building standards.
$3.9 million to provide ongoing funding to support nursing salary enhancements implemented by the university last fall; another $500,000 in one-time funds are provided for nursing equipment.
$7.7 million, as requested by the Governor, to establish the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures in the Tri-Cities.
$10 million to begin a renovation of the Knott Dairy Center in Pullman.
$40 million to match philanthropic funds to build a new student services building for the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.
Thanks to a huge investment from Edmund and Beatriz Schweitzer and the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, WSU has already made great headway on its funding goal without asking the legislature. By leveraging state support with private fundraising, WSU is making it clear that this new building is essential for both our community and our future.
Previous Victories in Olympia:
Reauthorizing the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation
WSU prioritized a reauthorization of the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation.
A bill passed by the Legislature and sent to the governor will extend its sunset date from 2020 to 2030. Established in 2012, JCATI was appropriated $3 million in the biennial budget to fund seed grants for research in the aerospace industry at state institutions of higher education. About $1.2 million of those funds, on average, have funded research projects at WSU.
Washington State Soil Health Initiative
Successfully funded in the operating budget was the Soil Health Initiative, a multi-agency research and extension initiative between WSU, the state Department of Agriculture and the state Conservation Commission. Legislation was passed in tandem with the funding in the operating budget that formally establishes the initiative to develop new strategies to improve soil across the state and get those strategies into the hands of growers
Washington State University Vancouver Life Sciences Building
$4 million of the state’s supplemental capital budget in the capital budget will go towards designing the Life Science Building at WSU Vancouver. Just over half of the student body at WSU Vancouver is composed of first-generation college students.
The building will provide much needed teaching and research space, so that this campus can continue to enhance educational attainment in Southwest Washington, alongside its regional educational partners.