State budget bill includes $5.5 million more for UW engineering initiative

The budget and related bills include funding for science and engineering initiatives as well as dorm renovations. UW trustees heard an update on the current legislative session Wednesday.

As the Wyoming Legislature concludes the sixth week of its general session, the State House and Senate have agreed on a budget bill that impacts significant projects planned or underway at UW.

UW Vice President of Governmental and Community Affairs Mike Smith has been closely following the Wyoming Legislature’s current session.

“In general, it's been a fairly positive session for the university thus far,” Smith told the UW Board of Trustees during a teleconference Wednesday. “We're tracking some remaining bills that remain alive that may impact the university in one way or another. But for the most part we're sitting quite well.”

The supplemental budget approved by lawmakers Friday includes significant amounts for the University of Wyoming. Those include:

• $15 million for the School of Energy Resources;

• $5.5 million for the Tier 1 Engineering Initiative;

• $2 million for a “nuclear energy collaboration and research program;”

• $500,000 for “College of Education initiatives;”

Smith also updated the trustees about Senate File 146, “State Funded Capital Construction,” which saw a lot of debate on the Senate floor. Lawmakers proposed 16 amendments to the bill, ultimately adopting half of them. Senate File 146 survived the senate and has been assigned to the House Appropriations Committee.

If passed by the house and signed by the governor as it currently stands, Senate File 146 would provide the university with “$70 million for the dorm projects and $12 million for the Science Initiative (Building’s) shelled space,” Smith said. 

The $70 million addition to the estimated $210 million dormitory renovation and construction project cost can be accessed if project funding runs dry or the project cannot be completed due to inflation.

In addition, funds can be used for specific alternative construction projects at the university if given permission from the legislature. However, Smith said state legislators seemed hesitant on the wording, and there are ongoing discussions about how to proceed with the allowance of these funds. 

“The $70 million could technically be used for dorms, the natatorium, and the (west stand) War Memorial stadium projects if things worked correctly,” Smith said.

Despite good spirits from the university's trustees and governmental affairs representatives, students have focused on more controversial bills that could affect everyday student life which were not discussed by the trustees.

During the trustees’ meeting Wednesday, the board met publicly for less than 30 minutes. They met for more than an hour in executive session to discuss personnel, the purchase of real estate, litigation and salary negotiations.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated the supplemental budget included $13 million for UW’s Tier 1 Engineering Initiative. The supplemental budget actually directs $5.5 million to this effort. The existing budget already included $7.6 million for this effort, so the total amount now funded is $13.1 million. The new appropriation, however, is just $5.5 million.