{"id":105,"date":"2025-01-24T18:32:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/?p=105"},"modified":"2025-01-29T21:32:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T21:32:20","slug":"new-leadership-and-a-big-budget-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/2025\/01\/24\/new-leadership-and-a-big-budget-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"New Leadership and a Big Budget Hole"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Governor Bob Ferguson hosted Washington’s four-year colleges and universities at the Governor’s Mansion in
Olympia on January 21, 2025. Evergreen President John Carmichael at right. Photo courtesy of the Council of Presidents<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 15, 2025–When Governor Bob Ferguson and 147 Washington state lawmakers arrived in Olympia this week, they faced an operating budget deficit estimated at $12 billion. Demand for social services, education, health care and other publicly funded services is up, while tax receipts are down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 2024 election, Democrats hold stronger majorities in the House and Senate. They say they will cut budgets, delay commitments, and raise taxes to build a balanced budget over the 105-day legislative session. Republicans say they would cut spending and slow the growth of state government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his last proposed biennial state budget released December 17, outgoing Governor Inslee recommended a modest addition to Evergreen\u2019s operating budget to fund:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Two years of the Shelton Promise program<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Student accessibility needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Faculty and staff compensation increases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this is just a starting point for legislative budget writers. Some legislators see funding for the state\u2019s public colleges and universities as a potential area for budget cuts. Others believe that the state\u2019s workforce needs are critical and that it\u2019s essential to maintain adequate funding for higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to budget wrangling, the Senate and House committees which focus on higher education and workforce development will be considering the expansion of eligibility for state scholarships, free tuition for the first two years of college, and how to align higher education more closely with the state\u2019s workforce needs. We can also expect to see discussion on how to help college students meet basic needs around housing and food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the state\u2019s operating budget comes from the state\u2019s general fund, which includes revenue from taxes, licenses, fees and permits. However, public higher education also benefits from another special state account. The Workforce Education and Investment Account (WEIA), created by the Legislature in 2019, helps fund state investment in higher education through a business and occupancy tax on some of the highest-earning Washington businesses. This account supports the Washington Grant scholarship program and other programs at public four-year and community colleges around the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Evergreen, WEIA is funding Shelton Promise, First-Year Experience student success programs, and new psychology offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislative session began January 13, and Governor Ferguson was sworn in on January 15. While he has not produced his own budget, Governor Ferguson has said he will look for deeper budget cuts, which could include a 3% cut across the board for public four-year institutions, and a 6% cut for state agencies, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers now have until the end of April to figure out how to pay for services to Washingtonians and pass an operating budget bill. It will then land on the governor\u2019s desk for a signature, a veto, or a partial veto. The current budget expires on June 30, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 15, 2025–When Governor Bob Ferguson and 147 Washington state lawmakers arrived in Olympia this week, they faced an operating budget deficit estimated at $12 billion. Demand for social services, education, health care and other publicly funded services is up,… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5116,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/evergreenleg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}