On Friday the Senate released a new supplemental budget proposal, its second proposal of the legislative session. In general, the Senate’s latest proposal would have the same impact to Western as the first Senate proposal that was released on February 24, including $802,000 in new funding to backfill the tuition reductions that the Legislature implemented in the 2015-17 budget and a proposal to redirect $630,000 originally allocated for the establishment of a cybersecurity program at WWU’s Poulsbo location to fund student support services. The Senate’s latest proposal also includes additional funding for the State Need Grant to ensure that all current SNG recipients continue to receive an SNG award for the remainder of the 2015-17 biennia. The new Senate budget proposal also includes proviso language establishing a workgroup to explore the benefits and challenges of creating accelerated degree programs, similar to SB 6626, which did not pass this session.
For a comparison of how each budget proposal from throughout the legislative session impacts Western, click here.
As the Western Legislative Review reported last week, the Legislature is in the midst of a 30-day special session for the purpose of adopting a supplemental operating budget and to pass bills that are necessary to implement the budget. The special session follows the conclusion of the 60-day regular legislative session, which ended on March 10th.