The Senate 2019-21 Capital Budget was released yesterday. The Senate’s plan was nearly identical to the House Capital Plan in terms of proposed funding for capital budget projects at Western.
These projects include:
- $60 million in construction funding for an Interdisciplinary Science Building which will provide greatly-needed lab and classroom space for a variety of STEM degree programs on campus;
- $500,000 in pre-design funding for a new Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building to address capacity constraints in these degree programs;
- $3 million in funding to upgrade some of the most outdated classroom and labs on campus; and
- Funding for WWU’s minor works perseveration and programmatic projects.
Like the House Capital Budget, the Senate plan authorizes a certificate of participation for WWU to self-finance a Consolidated Academic Support Services Facility.
Over the coming weeks, capital budget leaders from the House and Senate will work to negotiate the final compromise budget, which is expected to be finalized shortly before the legislature adjourns on April 28th.