The University of Washington’s 2019 State Legislative Agenda

The Washington State 2019 legislative session begins January 14th and is scheduled to last 100 days to craft biennial (two-year) operating and capital budgets for the state. Here is a preview of the requests the UW will make – and that UW Impact will champion, during the 2019 legislative session:

Top Budget Priorities

  • Maintaining Quality and Excellence:
    • Four percent compensation increases for UW faculty and professional staff to recruit and maintain a talented and qualified workforce in an expensive city.
    • A commitment of at least a 50 percent state funding share (same as other state universities) for compensation and central service expenses, which will relieve some of the financial burden from tuition-paying students.

Additional Budget Priorities

  • Access: $35 million to construct a new STEM education facility at UW Bothell in partnership with Cascadia College which would enable an additional 500 full-time students to enroll by fall 2021.
  • High-demand degrees and skills:
    • $ 5 million to design a new interdisciplinary teaching and research facility for the College of Engineering in Seattle which would serve over 7,000 students.
    • $1.81M for UW Tacoma to establish a B.S program in mechanical and civil engineering which would add approximately 180 additional enrollments.
    • $4 Million over the biennium to enable the College of Arts & Sciences to teach data science and analytics to 1,200 non-STEM students per year beginning in 2021.

To see the University of Washington’s full 2019 priorities, click here.

With significant investments in K-12 and a positive revenue outlook, state lawmakers in Washington have said “this is the year for higher education.” We sure hope that holds true.

Wondering what you can do to help? Sign up to be an advocate with UW Impact today! We are dedicated to organizing and mobilizing alumni on behalf of the University to secure state support for the UW and public higher education. Let us help you quickly and easily engage with your elected officials in support of these issues during the legislative session.