Husky Stadium Funding Unlikely After Senate Bill Times Out

Proposed Husky Stadium Renovation Would Cost Around $300M

The Washington state legislative session ended Sunday night with "no action taken" on Senate Bill 6116, which could have provided funding for a Husky Stadium renovation, and Univ. of Washington (UW) AD Scott Woodward "doesn't expect any action to come even if the legislature convenes again later," according to Bob Condotta of the SEATTLE TIMES. UW was "hoping to get $150[M] to pay for half of a proposed $300[M] renovation," and the school "planned to raise the other half once it had funding from the legislature." Despite what "seemed like long odds from the beginning," Woodward said that he "held out 'remote hope' until the end that something might get done." Woodward said that the foremost problem was "what he called the 'psychological disconnect' that made it difficult for legislators to vote to potentially give money to a football stadium at a time when the budget is taking a big hit in a number of other areas." Woodward said that he "didn't think ... efforts by fans of rival Washington State [WSU] to kill the bill" were a "real factor," though he "had some sharp words for the way the WSU administration helped foster that protest." Woodward: "The most disappointing thing about it is that (WSU president) Elson Floyd and [WSU AD] Jim Sterk didn't do anything to try to contain that little group of Cougars that were out there doing that. It was a shame that they didn't show leadership or courage to curtail something like that." Condotta notes Woodward all along has said that UW "has no stated 'Plan B' on how to renovate the stadium without state or county funding" (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/28).

STOP PAYMENT: In Seattle, Chris Grygiel reported Thunder Owner Clay Bennett likely "will get to hold on to the additional $30[M] he agreed to pay Seattle when he moved the NBA team last year." That payment "would've been made had Seattle not gotten a new team within five years and if the Legislature approved a plan this year to dedicate future tax monies to help refurbish KeyArena if another professional basketball team became available." Senate Bill 6116 "would've done that" (SEATTLEPI.com, 4/26). Washington state Sens. Ed Murray and Jeanne Kohl-Welles in a statement said, "If the Legislature goes into a special session sometime during this year, we will continue conversations around SB 6116" (SEATTLEPI.com, 4/27).