Higher Ed Plans Crash Into Budget Stonewall

A fight over maintaining the state’s $17.6 billion spending plan may derail efforts to get more students into public colleges and universities.

House Republicans say they won’t accept any increase in the hard-fought, two-year budget approved last year.

“We’re not going above $17.6 billion, period,” said Barry Sehlin, R-Oak Harbor.

That could doom proposals from the Democratically-controlled Senate to enroll 3,100 more college students and build a $34 million high-technology network to deliver classroom instruction to rural areas electronically.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board predicts the state will need space for 71,000 more college students by the year 2010. This year, 8,000 people are waiting to get into college.

The Senate Higher Education Committee this week is expected to approve nearly $70 million for the electronic network, a student loan program, and the 3,100 additional college slots.

“We never seem to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to access,” said Rep. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.

House members characterize the budget increase as a “bow wave” that will cost taxpayers more and more every year.

Don Carlson, R-Vancouver, chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said expanding enrollments will have to wait until next year when another two-year budget is written.

Carlson also said big proposals like the electronic network don’t belong in a supplemental budget, which is supposed to augment existing programs.

If a compromise budget cannot be reached that is within the Republican limit, Carlson said, there will be no supplemental budget this year. “We compromised to the $17.6 billion already, now it is time for the Senate Democrats to compromise.”

Sen. Eugene Prince, R-Thornton, said House Republicans are sticking to the $17.6 billion budget for political reasons.

“They don’t want these programs dead,” Prince said. “They want the image of not spending the money for them.”

He said it would be a “travesty” if the electronic network is not built.

“We worked this up and got all the schools together to support it,” he said. “To have gamesmanship kill it is wrong.”

Rep. Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, said sticking to the $17.6 billion limit is sound fiscal policy.

“It’s not like there’s something magical about that number,” Sheahan said. “There is just a real desire to hold the line on spending.”

, DataTimes