Spokane-area business advocates will go to Olympia this legislative session asking for more than $115 million for higher-education capital projects here, most of which are just now being introduced, including $40.6 million for two major community-college structures.


Theyll also be seeking relief from laws and regulations that shackle small businesses, and searching for solutions to the health-care crisis.


The mood in Olympia, however, isnt likely to be generous because lawmakers will be facing a projected $1.6 billion budget shortfall.


In that type of environment, some priorities have bigger challenges, says Rich Hadley, CEO of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.


Don Brunell, president of the Olympia-based Association of Washington Business, echoes those sentiments, saying, Its going to be a very contentious Legislature and a very challenging one.


In the capital-projects arena, schools of higher learning here are pitching a number of new buildings and building renovations that they hope will get funded for the 2005-2007 biennium.


Among those is Washington State Universitys planned $31.6 million College of Nursing building for its Riverpoint campus here, which is a top priority of the regional chamber. That project previously received $3 million in design money, which means it has a good shot at getting construction funding.


If that funding is secured, Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) will request that the state transfer the nursing schools current facility in northwest Spokane for use by the community colleges allied health programs and its Institute for Extended Learning. Gary Livingston, chancellor and CEO of the college district, says such a transfer wouldnt cost the state any money, but would be a big boost to the community colleges, especially Spokane Falls Community College, which is located near the current nursing school facility.


CCS also is requesting $18.5 million for a new Business and Social Sciences Building at Spokane Falls Community College that would take the place of three older structures there. The college district also wants $22.1 million to replace the vocational wing of Spokane Community Colleges Old Main Building.


Livingston says the new building at SFCC likely will be funded this biennium, but the SCC project currently isnt on a list of priorities set by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.


Hadley says that in addition to higher-education projects, the Chamber will stump for civic projects, including $6 million for Avista Stadium, $4.5 million for the Fox Theater, $2.85 million for Chewelah Peak Learning Center, $2 million for an Armed Forces and Aerospace Museum, $500,000 for West Central Community Center, and $425,000 for the Great Spokane River Gorge project.


Hadley says, however, no civic projects received funding during the last legislative session.


Business relief sought


Capital projects aside, Hadley says, the session largely will be dominated by one pressing question: How should the state prioritize spending in light of its looming budget shortfall?


The chamber and like-minded organizations will be asking a different question to which they hope eventually to hear favorable answers: How can small businesses get relief?


In many cases, such relief involves changes to benefit the health-care industry and reforms to ease health-insurance costs.


The chamber will push for establishment of a health-insurance option thats more affordable for small businesses with provisions that would allow plans to drop some state-mandated health coverage rules, Hadley says. He describes the states current coverage requirements as bloated, and says they are more extensive than in most other states.


With such a scaled-down health-insurance option, Hadley says, more small businesses could offer employees health-care coverage, thereby reducing the number of uninsured people.


Its in all of our best interests to insure more people, he says. In order to do that, you have to offer a Chevrolet version, not just a Volvo version.


An initiative to create a scaled-down health-insurance plan for small businesses was proposed earlier this year, but failed to gather enough voters signatures to be placed on an election ballot.


Another effort is under way to resolve an inequity in the states Medicaid reimbursement rates, through which Spokane-area hospitals receive far less than those on the west side of the state. Inland Northwest Health Services, of Spokane, has hired Joe King, former Speaker of the state House and now an Olympia lobbyist, to work on this issue.


The Spokane-based hospital collaborative has commissioned a study by EWUs Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis that will look at Medicaid reimbursement rates to hospitals statewide, INHS CEO Tom Fritz says. Preliminary results from that study suggest a large disparity in the Medicaid rates paid to hospitals here compared with the University of Washingtons Harborview Medical Center, in Seattle, Fritz says.


We clearly think there is a story to be told about the rate disparity, he says. Minimally, it looks like a $40 million impact. It would solve quite a few problems in this community if there were a rate adjustment.


Realistically though, Fritz says, more Medicaid money wont be available, and hospitals here arent interested in starting a futile effort to shift money from one hospital to others.


Unfortunately, its another bad year to bring this up, Fritz says.


Other health-care related issues that could be addressed this session include medical-liability reform, regulatory reform, and health-care work-force development.


Tax, regulatory issues


A number of additional issues will be watched closely by business advocates.


Such groups are opposing a state Department of Labor and Industries workers compensation insurance rate increasewhich will boost rates an average of 3.9 percent next yearand are calling for reform of L&I. With that increase, workers compensation premiums will have risen three straight years, although this years increase is the least of the three. In 2002 and 2003, rates increased by an average of 29.4 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.


The Washington Policy Center, a Seattle-based think tank, is recommending in its 2005 legislative agenda a series of changes to the insurance system that it believes would cut costs for businesses, including legalizing private workers comp insurance and annually auditing workers comp accounts.


The chamber also will advocate holding the line on the states current business-and-occupations tax rates, fearing that some will want to use a B&O tax hike as a way to address the budget deficit. The chamber also will be talking to legislators about how certain businesses and industries are classified under the B&O tax, in hopes of securing lower taxes for some.


The Association of Washington Business Brunell says business groups in addition will watch closely to make sure unemployment-insurance reforms put in place last session remain intact. Even with those reforms, which took effect just this year, unemployment-insurance costs in Washington state are high in terms of benefits and taxes paid by businesses, he says.


Besides capital improvements, higher education leaders are concerned about continued enrollment growth, Livingston says. During the 2003-2004 school year, he says, state universities and community colleges enrolled 12,000 additional full-time equivalent students than the state funded. By 2008, the number of unfunded enrollees is expected to leap to 30,000 FTE students.


In light of the budget shortfall, Brunell says, Thats a particularly thorny issue.


In other capital-projects requests, Eastern Washington University, is requesting $43.2 million for design and construction of a number of projects across its campus.


EWU spokesman David Rey says the universitys top priority is a request for $7 million in pre-design or design money for improvements to three campus buildings, design of an upgrade of major pedestrian walkways on campus, and renovation work on two other structures. The buildings for which renovation-design money is being sought include Hargreaves Hall, Isle Hall, and Martin Williamson Hall. Also, EWU wants $1.5 million to complete renovation work at Cheney Hall and $1.5 million to convert the old Matlocks grocery store building, which EWU owns, into office space for the university.


The school also hopes to receive $2 million in pre-design and design money to renovate Patterson Hall, one of EWUs largest academic buildings.


The largest chunk of money the school is seeking is $18.7 million that would go toward 33 small improvement projects throughout campus. Of that, $8.5 million would be used for facility preservation; $5.7 million for health, safety and code compliance; and $4.5 million for infrastructure preservation. Such projects include new walkways, disability-access upgrades, and fire-alarm updates, among numerous others.


Another $7 million is being sought from the state for 15 smaller projects, including classroom renovations, computer-network wiring upgrades, campus signage, and others.


Also, at SFCC, a small amount of money$100,000also is being requested for pre-design work on a new two-building classroom and early-learning center complex.