By Michael Baumgartner
Washington State Senator
In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama said, “Higher education can't be a luxury – it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.”
Former President George W. Bush said, “Education is how to make sure we've got a work force that's productive and competitive … make sure that people have an opportunity to start their career with a college diploma.”
The desire for good universities and colleges is nearly universal. Both Democrats and Republicans praise higher education, but for decades elected officials of both parties have failed to make funding for higher education a budget priority.
This is especially true here in Washington. If we look back 20 years, the state picked up about $15,000 of the cost of higher education and a student had to pay about $2,000. Since that time the state's portion has decreased to about 36 percent of the total cost.
In just the past five years, funding for higher education has been cut in half.
This is not happenstance – a mere result of the recession and the limited funds available to state budget writers. The sad truth is that the Legislature has made a conscious decision to defund higher education. While overall state spending has increased dramatically and far outpaced the rate of inflation plus population growth, non-capital state spending on higher education has actually decreased by 8 percent per student over the last 20 years.
For all states, this defunding of higher education would be ill-advised, but for Washington it is economic suicide. Our job growth is spearheaded by high-tech juggernauts that rely on college graduates for their workforce.
That is why I am sponsoring Senate Joint Resolution 8225. This measure would amend Article IX of Washington's constitution, which makes providing for basic education the state's “paramount duty,” so that higher education becomes the second-highest duty of the state. It also would establish a dedicated funding source for higher education, committing 1.75 cents of every retail sales dollar towards higher education.
The 2011-13 operating budget appropriates $2.75 billion to higher education. If enacted by the Legislature and approved by a vote of the people, SJR 8225 would provide $3.63 billion (an additional $890 million) of dedicated revenue in fiscal year 2013 alone, providing roughly a 50-50 split between state funding and tuition at four-year universities.
This is not a new tax; it is a better prioritization of current taxpayer dollars.
Just as K-12 education was essential in the 20th century, higher education and training is critical in the 21st. It is often the dividing line between a secure job and years of struggle.
Failing to make higher education funding a state priority doesn't just harm individual students, it saps the economic strength of our state. Instead of being able to move quickly, innovate and expand, companies in our state struggle to find the skilled workforce they need to move forward. Projects that should take months take years.
We cannot have a thriving, innovative economy if we continue to treat our universities as the least important funding priority of government; after studying budget decisions over the past two decades, it is clear to me that we must make it a constitutional priority with a dedicated source of funding.
The Legislature often faces seemingly intractable problems – criminal recidivism, drug use, or improving K-12 education, to name a few. But here is a problem we know how to solve. Higher education is working in Washington. It needs funding.
Providing adequate resources for our colleges, universities, and technical schools must be a legislative priority so that both our students and businesses can move into a prosperous future. Let's protect them, and our future, in our state constitution.
Sen. Michael Baumgartner represents the 6th District in Spokane. He is a member of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
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