With about 60 percent of the state budget protected — mostly in K-12 education, mandatory Medicaid and foster care spending, debt service and pensions — the rest must shoulder the burden of cuts. That’s why so much of what’s going on these days in Olympia is so painful.
The pain falls disproportionately on useful health-care programs and other services for the poor. It forces Sophie’s choices in corrections, where prison closures and early release of offenders must be considered.
And in recent years it has fallen increasingly hard on our public colleges and universities, which represent perhaps the most important investment state government can make in ensuring long-term economic growth and widely shared prosperity.
If current trends of program reductions, double-digit tuition hikes and the elimination of enrollment slots for Washington residents continue, kids who grew up here will seek opportunities elsewhere, and major employers may do the same.
Even in times as tough as these, lawmakers must find ways to mitigate the damage to higher education, and maintain an optimistic view of the future.
One such move — to begin the process of bringing Washington State University to Everett — passed the House this week, and deserves final approval in the Senate. It lays the foundation for an expansion of undergraduate and graduate engineering degree programs in the short-term, and for the breadth of opportunities a research institution like WSU can offer over the long-term.
Some lawmakers worry that the state is making a commitment to future funding it can’t guarantee. After so many years of retreat on higher ed funding, such pessimism isn’t surprising. It is, however, self-defeating.
The reality is that if Washington is to compete effectively for cutting-edge industries that provide good-paying jobs and sustain a strong economy — and keep the ones it already has — it must make a stronger long-term commitment to its colleges and universities, and ensure they’re accessible. Students should be able to grow up aspiring to a world-class college education right here at home. Otherwise, many of the best and brightest will end up starting new lives elsewhere.
As state tax revenues begin to recover from the recession, a new commitment to higher education funding must follow. New approaches need to be identified to better protect such funding from future downturns. Nothing else carries a greater return on investment — economically, socially or culturally.
Starting now to bring WSU here, to meet needs and aspirations in the long-underserved communities of Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties, embraces the kind of optimism that can propel us toward a prosperous future.
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