Informed Advocates of the University of Washington

I will 100% support STEM degrees. I benefited from these programs, achieving a BA in molecular biology, a PhD in biochemistry, and a doctorate in veterinary medicine with a specialty in oncology. I will always have a soft spot for these programs.

I am solidly against I-2117—simply, we must vote down this initiative. Our Climate Commitment Act is groundbreaking and has already begun to help local and regional climate mitigation actions. However, if it is, in fact, repealed, we must find alternative ways to fund climate projects and work towards our climate goals, such as retrofitting the UW's aging infrastructure.

As legislators, we should prioritize Washington residents. That includes increasing higher education opportunities by replacing cuts to allow the UW to admit more Washington students.

Salaries for education employees should meet employees' needs. The cost of living is different, sometimes hugely so, in our state’s city. How much we pay higher education employees should use the cost of living of the school where they are employed.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Our healthcare workforce shortage impacts every healthcare sector, from long-term care to behavioral health providers, to our nursing staffing shortage. By expanding STEM programs, not only can we improve higher education programs, but we are investing in vital sectors that build our economy and keep our state healthy.

I supported the Clean Fuels Standard and Climate Commitment Act and will continue to support policies to reduce our carbon emissions and invest in the clean energy economy. The science is clear. We must reduce our carbon emissions to respond to climate change, and this will require state investment in long-term clean energy solutions, such as modernizing the UW’s aging power system.

We should be encouraging Washington students to continue their education in state. The UW is an excellent educational institution, and replacing cuts could make it more accessible to Washington residents.

To maintain the quality of education provided at the UW, we must make sure we are investing in our faculty and staff. Our education professionals deserve adequate compensation for the work that that do, and they deserve to make enough to keep up with the high cost of living.

I’m proud to be a product of the University of Washington (UW) where I earned my Doctor of Pharmacy degree. As Chair, Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee, I’ve advocated for expanding programs at UW and in institutions across the State in high-demand, high-need areas. I recognize the incredible challenges our region faces in meeting workforce needs in healthcare, technology, energy and manufacturing that require STEM degrees and education. The University of Washington stands as a leader in providing top-tier STEM degrees and programs, earning respect from tech employers, particularly in computer science, and manages a world-class healthcare system with five hospitals. As we provide support to expand these degree programs, I am proud to also support fully funding programs like the Allen Scholars (formerly known as StartUp) program, which provides wraparound supports including mentoring, academic assistance, and financial aid, to underrepresented, first-generation, low-income students in computer science. We see talent in students from all backgrounds but there are differences in support systems that can impact their educational success— and results from programs like these show great outcomes. I will continue working to foster an equitable educational environment to prepare a diverse workforce here in WA state, and an economy that works for everyone.

I definitely support expanding stem degrees and programs to all campuses but I am wary of saying yes to something I haven't seen or read in detail. But based on the description in the question, I support this mission.

I have expressed my disappointment that the last biennial capital budget spent CCA on company compliance when, in my humble opinion, state institutions should have been prioritized first. I want to fulfill the mission to reduce carbon emissions and supporting UW in that effort is important. I also want to name that I have no idea what to expect with the budget this year and candidly I am nervous to offer something that I haven't been at the table for yet. But we need to do it and I am willing to stay at the table to develop plans to carry out the mission.

I believe that ALL students should have a expansion of knowledge. This definitely should be support in the budget. The expansion will make more people get curious about it.

Yes I will because we need though tens of million dollars coming in to create an even better ecosystem for Seattle. There should be no reason why with UW having 93% of greenhouse gases that they cannot come up with a valid answer for how they would keep CCA up and helping.

No, I would not allow it. What about those Companies that have to reduce their spending, which in turn reduces their inventory, which in turn reduces their income. Is inflation causing another silent recession? War plays another role too, within Seattle, Wa. We need to treat our small business companies and even large with a family type feel. Let them fail or pass but give them a fair chance to pass or fail and try again. Do not put such a label that a company has to reduce everything and risk going bankrupt, or out of business because of this new tool. Washington resident nor any state do not deserve this to come back.

I believe that ALL people, districts of schools, and colleges should be given a compensation. Since you are addressing just the UW, I feel like yes!!! Any Teacher or Professor who spend a vigorous amount of time teaching, while helping create, kindly loving their job should get a raise since the student says that they get should great compensation.

I would say that this is particularly important for UW-Tacoma.

I would support a Capital Budget request.

I want to support particularly the great efforts at UW-Tacoma in attracting South Sound students to the campus.

Given the needs of the State of Washington for STEM, Nursing, and other important occupations, I would be supportive of the request.

With so many UW Alumni choosing to stay in Washington State, it makes sense to invest in programs that meet our regional needs. Expanding STEM degree programs will help grow our skilled workforce and make sure students are getting a quality education.

First of all, I endorse no on the initiative to repeal the CCA. The Climate Commitment Act is one of the most effective policies in the country for addressing the climate crisis. We must take bold action to make our state healthier, and Initiative 2117 takes us in the wrong direction. However, if the CCA is repealed, it is still very important to make the right decisions for our environment. I will commit to securing an alternate source of funding in order to replace aging infrastructure like the UW power plant.

Washington Universities should support Washington students and encourage them to stay in state. Our young people are the future of our state, and we should invest in them.

Not only should we make sure that our educational institutions are able to attract high quality faculty and staff to ensure the best education for our students, but anyone working should earn enough to comfortably live in the region they are working.

Yes. As the only UW faculty member serving in the Legislature (School of Public Health and have also taught in the Evans School), I provide leadership for many UW budget and program requests. UW President Cauce has said: “(Gerry) has really been an absolute champion for higher education, not just for the University of Washington but public higher education across the State.” I am a champion for expanding our STEM and other high demand degree program enrollments, especially including expansion of areas where Washington suffers from severe shortages of professionals needed to address our most urgent health and educational needs, including behavioral health, social work, public health and education. It's not enough to expand enrollment. We need to provide the financial aid for low and middle income students to be able to pursue these degrees and workforce certifications. This includes my leading efforts to fund aid and support for graduate public service degree programs at the UW in healthcare, education, social work, public health, public interest law and other programs for which there is NO state support. I have worked with the UW and other schools to ensure that we provide the supports for women and underrepresented minority students to be recruited into STEM programs and have the evidence-based supports to improve degree completion. This has become urgently important in light of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action.

Yes. Replacing the UW power plant is an economically beneficial investment as well as an important part of our state’s greenhouse gas emission reduction / climate change policy. Make no mistake about this: if the Climate Commitment Act is repealed, the Legislature will not be able to replace the revenues with an alternate fee on pollution in the next biennium. It took years to develop and pass our climate change policy to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put the funds from the “cap and invest” program into further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. That is why I am campaigning for a NO Vote on Initiative 2117 (the repeal of the Climate Commitment Act).

Yes. I will continue to go far beyond restoring cuts. I have been a leader for our state’s adoption of one of the nation’s best financial aid programs, the Washington College Grant. I have been amongst the leaders who not only designed its adoption but have spearheaded the expansion so that every college student whose family income is below the state median is entitled to some financial aid. I will be reintroducing a “Washington Promise” to provide tuition free degree and workforce training programs for every recent Washington high school graduate. This will expand statewide the successful model of the Seattle Promise. I will continue to be our legislative champion for the UW and other universities and colleges to undo the budget gimmick adopted in the Great Recession that dramatically cuts state funding. Under the so-called “tuition split” adopted as a budget gimmick by the Legislature in the Great Recession, which I discuss in Q 7 below, acts as an on-going budget cut to the UW. The Legislature forces UW to pay 40-50% of the cost of Legislatively approved faculty compensation increases from tuition revenues. This drives UW to admit more out off state or international students, since the Legislature (appropriately) does not want to increase in-state tuition by more than inflation. I was the prime sponsor of the legislation which successfully added representation of our UW faculty to the Board of Regents. This provides the Regents with important insights into the impacts of budget decisions on teaching and research, which improves the UW’s budget requests and our capacity to support them.

Yes. I will also be continuing to lead on eliminating the Legislature’s longstanding practice of funding just half of the vitally important compensation increases that the UW and other universities need to retain and recruit faculty. It’s a dereliction of our duty as legislators to say we support faculty and staff cost of living increases but then fail to fully fund our approved increases using a gimmick (called the “fund split”) hidden in the budget. I will continue to work to ensure that the State supports restoring support staff positions and makes it possible for our lower paid (and often immigrant) workforce that keeps the university running are able to raise their own families in Seattle. I will also be working to prevent cuts in academic student worker positions following their unionization and negotiated compensation increases so these vital employees can afford to live in Seattle and work at UW.