HOUSE BUDGET CUTS EVERGREEN’s BUDGET BY 27%
The state House and Senate released their proposed operating budgets on March 24, beginning five weeks of intense negotiations to eliminate a $12 billion shortfall and pass a final budget before adjourning on April 27. The proposed budgets have very different approaches on how to begin.
At this initial point, the Senate proposal is far preferable for Evergreen, but we can’t yet see the whole picture since only a part of the budget proposals are now in view. Bills to raise more revenue by increasing taxes and tightening loopholes are being debated and could make the proposed cuts smaller.
The House proposal (HB 1198) avoids a larger tuition increase, reductions to the Washington College Grant, and employee furlough days. But it avoids those actions by making deeper cuts in higher education generally and much deeper cuts in Evergreen specifically. All baccalaureate institutions would be cut 2%. Evergreen would be singled out for a deeper cut to bring our per-student appropriation to the average of Western Washington, Eastern Washington, and Central Washington universities. The House proposal also provides some funding for Evergreen for IT modernization and to improve student accessibility but phases out the Shelton Promise program.
The net effect of the current House proposal would be a 27% percent cut to Evergreen’s biennial operating budget. Clearly, a cut of that magnitude would have significant impacts on students, staff, faculty, and the future of the college.
The Senate budget (SB 5167) proposes a 1% across-the-board cut for higher education institutions. Behind that comparatively small reduction is a set of difficult choices. The Senate proposal authorizes a one-time 8% tuition increase while reducing the Washington College Grant significantly for some students. Half of Evergreen students rely on these grants. And although the proposal pays for negotiated compensation increases, it simultaneously assumes one unpaid furlough day per month for most employees over the next two years. The Senate proposal would provide funding for the Shelton Promise program, IT modernization, and student accessibility.
The effect of the current Senate proposal on the college’s budget would be a net increase over the biennium of 1.3%.