2023 Legislative Session Recap
Thank you for your advocacy this session, which ended on Sunday, April 23. For the 105 days of session, we urged action on the legislative priorities listed below, which were determined with alumni input. You answered the call: UW Impact advocates sent nearly 1,000 messages to lawmakers this session, as well as meeting with officials and attending town halls.
Here is what we accomplished together:
UW Medicine
A victory: The Legislature invested $150M in UW Medicine to continue its safety-net care and workforce training, as well as to help ensure financial viability after its massive COVID response. Legislators also granted more than $12M for opening costs, physician training, and facilities fees at the new Behavioral Health Teaching Facility.
Quality and Excellence
The Legislature will pay for 60% of compensation costs to recruit and retain the UW’s stellar faculty and staff. This percentage is lower than the requested 66% but slightly better than last year’s fund split at 58%.
Student Support Services and High-Demand Degree Programs
State lawmakers allocated more than $10.5M to STEM degree expansion and STEM support services on all 3 campuses. Additionally, UW Tacoma received $1.4M for general student support services on its campus.
Capital Investments
Key capital investments include:
- $58M for the Magnuson Health Sciences Center renovation and replacement, which serves UW’s six health sciences disciplines
- $28.65M to renovate 98-year-old Anderson Hall, which houses the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
- $9m to build Phase 2 of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, the learning and gathering space for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students
What’s Missing
In addition to lower-than-expected support for compensation, the Legislature did not fund the Rural Initiatives in Dentistry Education (RIDE) program in Spokane, which trains rural dentists. Lawmakers also did not fund expansion in Informatics, a high-demand information technology program.
What’s Next
We encourage you to stay connected with your lawmakers in the interim to prepare for next session. We will be in touch periodically over the summer and fall with additional opportunities to connect, attend trainings, be educated on legislative issues related to higher education, and to participate more fully in the democratic process.
Thank you for your part in securing the investments above and for helping us keep the “public” in public higher education. Huskies, your voice truly makes a difference.