2025 Legislative Priorities
This post originally appeared on Washington State University’s Government Relations newsbeat blog.
Compensation enhancements, deferred maintenance efforts and a new health sciences training facility in Spokane feature prominently in state operating and capital budget requests approved this spring by the WSU Board of Regents. Formal requests will be drafted this summer in time for submission to the state Office of Financial Management in September. The president retains authority to make alterations as evolving conditions warrant.
Among the top priorities for the institution are funds requested for a compensation increase for faculty and staff during both years of the biennium and ongoing funds to implement the collective bargaining contract reached with academic student employees in January. The latter was partially funded on a one-time basis in the 2024 supplemental budget. The complete list of the university’s requests is below.
Operating budget:
Compensation (Request amount to be determined)
Academic Student Employee Contract ($10.5 million)
College of Medicine accreditation support ($3.6 million)
Native American Scholarship continuation funding ($2.2 million)
Maintenance and operation for Schweitzer Engineering Hall ($1 million)
Capital budget:
Minor works preservation systemwide ($40 million)
Minor work program systemwide for equipment and small renovations ($20 million)
Pullman Integrated Sciences Building Design/construction and demolition to begin the replacement of Heald Hall on the Pullman campus ($25 million)
Construction of a new Team Health Education Building in Spokane ($58 million)
General classroom updates across the WSU system ($3.5 million)
Wireless internet enhancements across the WSU system ($3.5 million)
East Building lab renovations at WSU Tri-Cities ($3 million)
Chiller Plant upgrade at WSU Vancouver ($3 million)
Design for replacement of the Washington Disease Diagnostic Lab’s Avian Health & Food Safety Lab in Puyallup ($3 million)
Design and construction of a new plant growth facility at the Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center in Wenatchee ($10 million)
Study for a new engineering building at WSU Pullman ($500,000)
Study for a new dairy at WSU Pullman ($500,000)
Design and construction for efficiency improvements to comply with state’s Clean Building Act ($5 million)
