On February 22, both the House and Senate released their state budget proposals. In this post, we summarize where this step falls in the state budget process and important trends we are observing in these budget proposals.
The State Budget Timeline
This year’s budget is a supplemental one, meaning lawmakers are making adjustments to the two-year, biennial budget they passed last year, rather than creating a brand-new budget. Governor Ferguson released his budget proposal at the end of December, effectively starting the formal budget process ahead of the 2026 Washington state legislative session, which began on January 12. As noted above, the House and Senate released their own budget proposals on February 22, reflecting priorities and negotiations throughout the legislative session thus far. Over the next several weeks, lawmakers will negotiate a final compromise budget that blends elements of all three proposals into one agreement. This final budget must pass both the House and Senate before the legislative session ends on March 12.
House and Senate Budget Trends for UW
Negotiations are still underway, but several themes have emerged for the University of Washington (UW) across the House and Senate proposals. Below are five things we are seeing at this stage and what they could mean for the UW community:
A 1.5% cut to administrative spending
Both the Senate and House budget proposals include an ongoing “administrative reduction” to UW’s operating budget ($1.3 million in the Senate budget and $1.2 million in the House budget). Notably, the House budget requires institutions to protect student-facing staff when making administrative cuts. The Senate budget does not include this specification.
A shift in funding sources – without a change in total funding
To help close the existing state budget deficit, the House and Senate proposals call for shifting resources from the capital budget to the operating budget to generate operating budget savings. The UW typically has separate funding streams for its operating and capital budgets, and the money doesn’t often shift between them. The proposed funding shift would move $85 million of student building fees (a portion of tuition) into the operating budget. The $85 million of capital budget costs previously covered by student building fees would then be paid by state bonds.
*Note: Washington state bonds are tax-exempt loans that the state takes out to pay for large projects.
Investment for the Center of Behavioral Health and Learning (CBHL), with differing funding timelines
CBHL is a facility run by UW Medicine that provides long-term behavioral health care, particularly for those battling serious mental health needs. The state has partnered with UW Medicine to build out this facility and has previously committed to providing full funding for the operation of beds. The investment of state funds would allow UW Medicine to meet its operational capacity at this facility, deliver effective behavioral health care, and train future providers. The Senate budget allocates $15 million in ongoing funding, while the House budget proposes a one-time allocation of the same amount. UW requested $18.34 million in ongoing funds to cover its operating costs, so these budget proposals would partially cover that amount.
Funding the University’s decarbonization efforts
The House proposal authorizes $47.5 million of funding for UW’s Power Plant Electrification and Campus Hot Water Loop project through the state Climate Commitment Account (CCA). The Senate proposal does not include funding for this. The project is vital to the university’s effort to fully decarbonize the energy system of the Seattle campus. For more information on this effort, check out the UW Sustainability website.
Tuition policy remains the same
The legislature last updated tuition policy for the UW and other public higher education institutions in 2015 with the passage of 2ESSB 5954. The bill amended several existing RCWs including RCW 28 B.15.067, which establishes tuition fees and limits the rate by which they may be increased. Resident undergraduate tuition has been allowed to increase by 2.2-3.3% each year. The budget proposals do not make any changes to this allowable increase.
As negotiations continue, FPB will continue to monitor developments. For additional detail, please visit the FPB Briefs page on our website.