Capital budget proposals released

This week the House and Senate published each chamber’s respective proposals for the state’s 2021-23 biennial capital budget.  Each proposal included funding for some of Western’s top capital budget priorities.

Both House and Senate proposals would fully fund WWU’s top capital construction request—$51 million for the construction of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science building, also known on campus as the Kaiser Borsari Hall.  Both proposals would also include funding for a Coast Salish-style Longhouse on Western’s campus, with the House proposal fully funding the project at $4.95 million and the Senate proposal providing $3.5 million for the project.  The House and Senate budget proposals also both provide pre-design funding for the future construction of a new Student Development and Success Center, as well as funding for minor works preservation and programmatic projects on campus. 

The Senate proposal includes funding for critical infrastructure projects on campus, including partial funding for classroom and lab upgrades, critical safety, access control and fiber optic network upgrades, and elevator safety. 

The House proposal includes funding for a study to explore the feasibility of converting WWU’s steam heating system to a more energy efficient system. 

Click here for a detailed comparison of the proposals.