FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Dec. 18, 1995

Capital budget looks toward the future

OLYMPIA - Gov. Mike Lowry today announced a $110.7 million supplemental spending proposal for capital projects. The budget provides funding for both emergent needs in state government and visionary investments in technology, particularly benefiting higher education.

"Using technology to bring higher education opportunities to more people is clearly a new frontier," Lowry said. "We will use new advances in technology at every opportunity."

Some high-priority capital projects include:

• Washington Higher Education Network: A new interactive higher education telecommunications backbone will be created with a $32.4 million state investment. The Washington Higher Education Network (WHEN) will link all public four-year institutions and selected other locations to offer interactive classroom instruction and data transmission. WHEN will allow shared instruction across the state from any higher education institution.
• Juvenile Justice Adjustments: Significant increases in the state's juvenile offender population have created a need for bed space above projections assumed in the current budget. About $13 million is proposed to upgrade the infrastructure of the Green Hill School and add 112 new youth detention beds at Green Hill School and the Mission Creek Youth Camp. Another $11 million is earmarked for improvements to Maple Lane School, including 112 new beds, an upgrade of infrastructure and expanded support facilities.
• Public Works Loans: A revised cash management strategy with the public works trust fund will make available $30 million in additional loans to finance local public works projects, including fixing streets and bridges and building new arterials.
• Cheney Cowles Museum in Spokane: Design work for an addition to the museum can begin with $1.2 million in state funds. The addition will allow the exhibition of valuable Native American artifacts that cannot be appropriately stored and displayed in the current facility.
• USS Missouri: The state will assist local efforts to secure the permanent mooring of the USS Missouri in Bremerton. This $3 million proposal has statewide historical significance and offers both educational and tourism benefits for Kitsap County.

New projects yielding future savings or new opportunities include:

• Corrections: The Department of Corrections (DOC) will use $3.2 million to convert beds to close custody at the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe, avoiding the construction of higher custody beds at the new Grays Harbor facility. Also, DOC takes advantage of $1.8 million in federal funds to pay part of the cost of a new work ethic camp at McNeil Island.
• Liquor Distribution Center: The Liquor Control Board will use $4 million to begin work on a new, more efficient liquor distribution center. The old center, constructed in 1948, has become outdated. The money will be raised through liquor sales.
• Trust Land Transfer: The Governor recommends that $50 million of the funds currently appropriated for common school construction be redirected through the Department of Natural Resources Trust Land Transfer program. This approach will permanently protect valuable recreation and habitat areas, without reducing the amount of funds available for common school construction. The supplemental budget includes $3 million in additional state general funds to purchase replacement trust lands.

Authority is provided for the State Treasurer to make alternate financing arrangements to fund projects.These actions do not require appropriation, but allow for annual lease/financing costs to be paid from agency operating budgets. Specific projects that would be funded through this arrangement include:

• Community College Projects: The budget allows for $4.4 million in authority to purchase real property, expand parking, provide daycare space, and expand classroom/laboratory space at five community college campuses. Funding for projects will be paid out of the operating budgets of the colleges or through use of non-appropriated local funds.
• Fire Training Center: About $8 million will be used to build an airplane fire training facility at the state fire training center in North Bend. All the financing costs will be paid by the Port of Seattle, the Federal Aeronautics Administration and the Boeing Company. The equipment will be housed on state property at no cost, and fire training fees will cover the cost of maintenance and operation.
• State Offices: A purchase option to buy the office currently leased by the Department of Social and Health Services in Yakima was previously authorized in the 1993-95 capital budget, but was not completed before the end of the biennium. This proposal allows for $7.4 million to complete the transaction. An additional $3.6 million is proposed to complete construction of Department of Licensing (DOL) service offices in Clark, Spokane, Yakima and Thurston counties.

Other savings opportunities the Governor has found include:

• Debt Service: The appropriation for debt service costs in the 1995-97 Biennium is reduced by $17 million due to declining interest rates on the sale of new bonds and unforeseen opportunities to refinance outstanding bonds in recent months
• Project Savings: In developing the supplemental budget, Lowry asked agencies to identify projects that could be eliminated or reduced to free up funds for other needs. Approximately $9.9 million in savings were identified by this process.

For more information, contact the Governor's Communications Office at 360-753-6790.