The Washington State Senate has released their proposed operating and capital budget. Below are the prepared remarks for Egils Milbergs delivered before the Senate Ways and Means Committee February 28, 2012.
"Senator Murray, Senator Kilmer and members of the committee. Thank you for the courage to set priorities. Across the board budget cuts is not a strategy. It does not inspire, it does not stir public support and it does not provide a pathway to prosperity. The capital budget proposal is smart and strategic. This is not about short term temporary jobs. It is about long term benefits. It aligns with our plan to make Washington the innovation hotspot of the world by 2020. It gives priority to talent, innovation partnerships, infrastructure and international trade—the fundamental pillars upon which an innovation economy depend. It also reflects local priorities. We believe in leadership at the local levels. These investments will strengthen local innovation ecosystems accelerating economy recovery from the bottom-up. This conversation will need to continue after this legislative session. Do not be afraid to lead. We will be a partner, we will there with you."
LINKS:
The operating budget (Chair, Sen Ed Murray) does not rely on new taxes and makes no cuts to current K-12 or higher education funding. Maintaining investments in talent development are an important priority for the WEDC. To reduce K-12 class size, consistent with the state Supreme Court's McCleary decision, the budget will tap revenue from legislation to end the tax exemption on interest on mortgages for national banks and end an exemption on sales tax on wind power generation equipment ahead of schedule. Senate budget writers are also relying on $330 million delayed payment to schools that typically get a major payment at the end of June will instead get it in early July. There is no cut to the WEDC budget allowing the commission to continue strategy, implementation and evaluation work with an adequate level of resources.
The $1.3 billion capital budget proposal (chair, Sen. Derek Kilmer) is not just about temporary public sector job creation. This aligns with the WEDC four innovation pillars and job creation strategy. It gives priority to investments in talent, innovation partnerships, infrastructure and international trade. In other words these are projects will generate longer-term growth benefits by investing in emerging innovation clusters, remove critical bottlenecks in freight mobility, modernize education/training facilities in high demand occupations, and assist small enterprises to export more.
Innovation Partnership Zones see a significant investment in locally designed innovation initiatives ($15 million); $36 million in port and export assistance grants; $31 million for clean-up and development of brownfield sites with economic development potential; $335 million for workforce development, including skills centers and high demand facilities at community and technical colleges and research universities. Investments in higher education facilities will make a significant difference—for example, $63 million for UW Bothell to support STEM degrees.
Capital Budget Highlights
$477 million is provided for Economic and Workforce Development including:
· $35 million for economic development, Innovation and Export grants administered by the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB),
· $15 million for Innovation Partnership Zones,
· $26 million for Main Street Improvement grants
· $36 million in port and export assistance grants,
· $31 million for clean-up and development of brownfield sites with economic development potential,
· $335 million for workforce development including skills centers and high demand facilities at community and technical colleges and research universities.
$76 million is provided for Skills Centers including:
· $23 million for the Puget Sound Skills Center,
· $6 million for the Sunnyside Satellite of the Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center,
· $10 million for the Tri-Tech Skills Center - Walla Walla Branch Campus,
· $10 million for the Wenatchee Valley Skills Center
· $19 million for the Grant County Branch of the Wenatchee
· $2 million for the WA-NIC Skills Center - Snoqualmie Valley SD/Bellevue
Community College
· $2 million for the Spokane Area Professional - Technical Skills Center
· $750,000 for the Clark County Skills Center addition
$249 million is provided for major higher education facilities and equipment for high demand occupations including:
· $31 million for Skagit Valley College - Academic & Student Services Building
· $$39 million for Lower Columbia College - Health and Sciences Building
· $39 million for Tacoma Community College - Health Careers Center
· $3.6 million for Olympic College Instruction Center
· $23 million for North Seattle Community College Technology Building
· $37 million to complete the second phase of the WSU Spokane Riverpoint Biomedical and Health Sciences Building
· $63 million for the University of Washington - Bothell Phase 3 supporting degrees in Science, Technology, engineering and Math.