Tag Archives: higher education

Legislature approves two-year capital budget ‘for the entire state’

On the final day of its 2025 session, the Legislature approved the 2025-27 state capital budget, with the two Senate Republicans who helped develop this budget praising it for addressing needs throughout Washington.

“I’m pleased that the capital budget passed by the Legislature addresses many needs throughout the state,” said 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, the lead Republican for the Senate capital budget. “Realizing there were limited resources to pay for the capital budget, we made tough decisions every step of the way, working on priorities that satisfied both our side and the Democrats.

“I’m also pleased this budget leaves healthier reserves than is often the case going into the second year of a biennium. That’s important for addressing unforeseen problems next year.”

“The Republicans and Democrats on the Senate capital-budget team are on the same page – but our House counterparts have their own priorities, so there was a fair amount of pushing and pulling to get to a final product,” said Sen. Perry Dozier, R-Waitsburg, assistant Republican leader for the capital budget.

“I’m proud of how we held firm on the things the Senate views as most important, which include investments that will be seen in all four corners of the state. Education and behavioral health are priorities in rural Washington as much as anywhere in our state, and that is reflected here. It’s a solid budget, and deserving of the strong bipartisan support it received today.”

The new two-year state capital budget has a total price tag of $7.6 billion, with an ending-fund balance of $349 million. The Senate passed the capital budget 47-0 and the House approved it 98-0. It now goes to Gov. Bob Ferguson for his consideration.

It includes $975 million for K-12 education and early-learning projects, including $430 million for the School Construction Assistance Program. There is $202 million for Small District and Tribal School Modernization construction and planning grants, which will fund 40 additional small-school construction projects.

Another $151 million is provided for additional school seismic-safety grants, plus $6 million for the new school security and preparedness infrastructure grants program. The budget includes $5.15 million for CASE/Ag Science in Schools grants.

The capital budget spends $781 million on numerous housing programs.

Schoesler and Dozier, both farmers, noted the state’s fairs benefit from this budget, which allocates a record-high $9 million for competitive grants to agricultural fairs for health- and safety-improvement projects.

The new capital budget also provides plenty of money for water-related needs on both sides of the Cascades, with robust funding for eastern Washington water-infrastructure programs. Those appropriations include $69 million for the Columbia River Water Supply Development Program, of which $44 million goes to the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, plus $52 million for the Yakima River Basin Water Supply Program and $8.5 million for the Yakima-Tieton Canal to start fixing damage to a wildfire.

In western Washington, $75 million is provided to fully fund the Chehalis River Basin Strategy, which includes flood control and salmon recovery.

The budget includes a record $75 million for 13 fish hatcheries statewide.

A total of $1.2 billion is allocated for projects at Washington’s four-year universities and other higher-education institutions. They include:

  • Washington State University: $25 million for the Sciences Building, plus money for preventive facility maintenance and building-system repairs.
  • Central Washington University: $12 million for the emergency backup power system, $11 million for the university’s Humanities and Social Science Complex, and $10 million for an expansion of CWU’s aviation-degree program.
  • Eastern Washington University: $10 million for the dental-therapy lab, as well as funding for facility-preservation projects.
  • The state’s community and technical college system receives $434 million for various projects.

9th District legislators to host virtual town hall on Thursday, March 20

Sen. Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick and Rep. Mary Dye are inviting citizens to join them Thursday, March 20 for a 9th District virtual town hall meeting.

The eastern Washington lawmakers will provide an update of the 2025 legislative session and then take questions from participants. Citizens may also submit written questions during the process of registering to participate in the meeting.

During the town hall meeting, the 9th District legislative team will discuss several issues, including:

  • The upcoming two-year state operating, capital and transportation budgets.
  • The likelihood that majority Democrats will impose new and/or higher taxes on Washingtonians.
  • Efforts by Democrats to pass anti-gun legislation.
  • Bills impacting K-12 education and higher education.
  • Bills affecting agriculture in Washington.

The event will be held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and conducted using the Zoom platform. Preregistration is required by going to https://tinyurl.com/9thTownHall2025. Those registering will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting.

Schoesler praises state capital budget passed by Legislature

State Sen. Mark Schoesler, the Senate Republican leader on the capital budget, issued this statement after the Legislature passed a new state capital budget for 2023-25. It funds the construction and maintenance of state buildings, public-school matching grants, higher-education facilities, public lands, parks, water infrastructure and other assets.

“This is a win for the people of Washington. It is truly a statewide budget that lives within our means and funds the priorities of government.   

“This capital budget responds to needs all throughout our state and provides funding for important projects in a wide variety of categories, from affordable housing to K-12 and higher education, from water supply and water quality needs to salmon recovery, state parks and outdoor recreation.

“I’m pleased by the support for the many projects that will help our colleges and universities, and especially glad to see money for school seismic-safety grants, since Washington is in earthquake country. The funding for water-supply projects, which benefits agriculture and other water users, is a big plus as well.

“Our capital budget takes a statewide approach, as it should. It will benefit many communities throughout Washington.”

Overall, the state capital budget (Senate Bill 5200) appropriates a total of $9 billion in spending, including nearly $694 million for affordable-housing projects; $872 million for K-12 education projects; $1.5 billion in total funding for higher education; $884 million to address behavioral-health needs; and $2.4 billion for natural-resource projects that address water quality and supply, salmon recovery, outdoor recreation and conservation, state parks, state trust lands and more.

The Senate passed the capital budget 48-0 today after the House approved it 96-0 on Friday. It now goes to Gov. Jay Inslee for his consideration.

Schoesler, R-Ritzville, serves the 9th Legislative District.

The 2023 legislative session is scheduled to end tomorrow.

Schoesler backs Senate capital budget, lauds support for broadband access

The Senate today gave unanimous approval to its two-year capital budget, which includes $490 million toward expanding broadband access across Washington.

Sen. Mark Schoesler said the emphasis on broadband needs is especially important for rural parts of the state.

“Insufficient broadband is a problem in 9th District communities and other rural parts of Washington, so it is very good to see the Senate capital budget provide nearly half a billion dollars toward resolving it,” said Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “Better broadband in rural Washington will help students relying on the internet and help small businesses that want to engage in e-commerce. It is also critical to precision farming. This will help put rural and unserved areas of our state on a more equal footing with more populated areas of Washington.”

During his floor speech prior to the 49-0 vote on the Senate’s capital budget, Schoesler, the assistant ranking Republican on the Senate capital budget, called it a responsible spending plan that addresses various needs across the state.

“I’m very happy we didn’t borrow money from the 2023-25 biennium to reach the funding level we needed to with this budget,” said Schoesler. “The Public Works Assistance Account stays where we want it to be. This budget wisely uses the recently received federal funds for the betterment of our state. It leaves some bonding capacity available for the next biennium because when we come back here in 10 months, there will be corrections facilities needs, and other opportunities that we will want to address. This budget takes care of water needs very well in parts of the state, whether it is Lewis County, the Yakima River Basin or other areas. Those are all very important.”

Schoesler noted the Senate capital budget provides a large amount of funding for fish hatcheries. “No matter where we live, we value hatcheries, whether we’re tribes, commercial fishermen or sports fishermen. We did a good job for hatcheries in this budget,” the 9th District legislator said.

Schoesler pointed out the budget’s support for areas including K-12 education, higher education, public safety, community projects and infrastructure projects.

“I’m glad to see the Senate capital budget would provide funding for the Odessa groundwater project, which is important to many of the communities in our region,” added Schoesler, who also highlighted the $8 million included for fair health and safety grants.

The Senate capital budget would provide $907.4 million in bond proceeds and $40.2 million in other funds for K-12 school construction and modernization. The spending plan includes:

  • $837.3 million for the School Construction Assistance Program (SCAP), with $781.7 million dedicated to fund 36 construction and renovation projects in 29 school districts;
  • $47.2 million for modernization grants to small school districts;
  • $14.2 million for skills centers;
  • $10 million to the school district health and safety grants program to address health and safety issues, equal access and emergency repairs; and,
  • $51.6 million for construction of new education facilities for those with disabilities.

The Senate capital budget also offers $1.51 billion in total appropriations and alternative financing authority for higher-education facilities, including $1.06 billion of state bond proceeds. Of the total spending authority, $963 million is provided for Washington’s four-year institutions and $551 million for the community and technical college system.

The capital budget funds the construction and maintenance of state buildings, public schools, higher education facilities, public lands and parks.

After the House passes its capital budget plan, Senate and House negotiators will start working to address differences between the two proposals and reach agreement on a final version for both chambers to pass.

The 2021 legislative session is scheduled to end April 25.