From left: AS Vice President of Business and Operations Virgilio Cintron, AS President Matt Jarrell and Vice President of Diversity Bernard Ikegwuona decide vote against I-1033. Photo by Rhys Logan
Western’s Associated Students Board of Directors will be voting on a resolution opposing Initiative-1033 at their Oct. 7 board meeting.
The initiative would freeze the Washington state budget that funds institutions of higher educations and only allow increases in the budget through a calculation of inflation and population growth or an initiative vote by the people to raise the budget.
The board discussed the initiative during their Sept. 30 meeting, but decided to wait until next week to vote while they consult with one of Western’s assistant attorneys general, Wendy Bohlke.
Brian Burton, dean of Western's College of Business and Economics, said if the initiative passed it would mean a 17 percent cut in funding to four-year institutions.
The initiative puts Western in danger of being unable to provide education to its students, Burton said.
Morgan Holmgren, Associated Students vice president for legeslative governmental affairs, wrote the resolution opposing the initiative.
“We are waiting for legal clarification on whether or not we can take a stance on this,” Holmgren said.
Holmgren said he is creating a space on the Western forums for students to express their opinions on the resolution.
On Sept. 12, the Washington Student Association’s executive board, along with Holmgren, unanimously rejected the initiative.
“The Washington Student Association strongly opposes built in structures that kind of guarantee a tuition increase over the years,” Holmgren said.
The association—of which Western is a due-paying member—is a lobbying group for the major public colleges and universities in Washington.
Tim Eyman, a ballot-initiative campaigner who has been active in Washington state politics since 1997, is the sponsor of the initiative.
Jack and Mike Fagan, co-directors of Voters Want More Choices, a Washington state advocacy effort, are also initiative sponsors.
The initiative would make the cuts in funding that Western has received from the state—which dropped from 60 percent to 43 percent this year—difficult to change, said Sherry Burkey, assistant vice president of university relations at Western.
“Before too long there’s going to be so much in student funding, it’s questionable if we’ll have much in the way of a public higher education system left,” Holmgren said.
The reductions in state funding for higher education that took place this year would remain in place.
Attempts to get programs back would be difficult if the initiative passed, Burkey said.
“We lost some good people, lost some things that are important,” Burton said.
Any revenue collected that goes over the state budget limit would go into a fund for the reduction of property taxes, said Mike Bogatay, executive director of the association.
“According to the governor’s office, it would cut $5.8 billion out of the state revenue [during] the next five years, which would mean a $649 million loss to higher education,” Bogatay said.
The main reason for the opposition of the initiative is that it would force institutions to increase tuition year after year, Holmgren said.
The point behind the initiative is to take power away from the legislature, said Western senior Adam Day, campaign committee chair for Whatcom Democrats.
“It would make the cuts [Western] experienced this year permanent,” Day said.
The cuts caused the loss of the football program, a loss of teachers and an increase in tuition, Day said.
If the initiative passes, it would lessen the chance that programs cut this year would return, and Western would be trapped in its current budget situation, Day said.
At the rate of inflation, it would be around 2017 that higher education funding levels would return to their 2008 levels, Bogatay said.
Currently, polls are showing more public support for the initiative. However, the polling numbers are also showing a decrease in the percentage the initiative is leading by, Bogatay said.
“The student vote will be crucial for this initiative,” Bogatay said.
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