Higher ed budget cut because of Senate battle

May 12, 2008

By Jacque Kochak
Villager Editor

This year's battle over the state education budget was a standoff between higher education and Alabama's K-12 schools, and higher education lost.

Senators supporting a $25 million increase for higher education staged a filibuster that was said to have been orchestrated by Fine Geddie and Associates, lobbyists for Auburn University and the University of Alabama System.

They were opposed by Sen. Hank Sanders, chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation-Education Committee and his supporters.

"Higher education got punished for its impertinence," said state Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn. Little supported the increase for higher ed, but voted to end the filibuster in the shadow of the troubling possibility that a budget would not be passed at all.

That's what happened, and principals across the state called foul. With no budget, they were required by law to give notice to employees before the school year ended.

"It was a game of who blinks first, and Sanders did not blink," Little said.

Now, the state's institutions of higher education will actually get $5 million less than they would have in the budget that died in the regular session. Rep. Mike Hubbard of Auburn, the Republican state chair, was among those who met with Sanders to hammer out a compromise.

In addition, universities will get $10 million in "first-tier" conditional funding and an additional $20 million in regular conditional funding. Conditional funding is awarded if the money is available; first-tier conditional funding must be awarded as the funds come into the state treasury, and regular conditional funding is distributed at the governor's discretion.

"Well, I think it's the best we could come up with," Hubbard said. "After the session died, there were a lot of people calling for all that money to be stripped away. It was certainly a lot better than it could have been. At least it's done."

The state House of Representatives and the Senate committee had already passed a budget, and the additional $25 million would have increased that budget by less than 1 percent, Little said. Sanders said there simply was no money for any increase, and the possibility of proration of school funding already threatens.

"The state budget situation is disappointing to say the least," said Brian Keeter, AU's director of public affairs. "However, we know that Auburn and other four-year universities would not have received such a cut in state support had more funds been available in the Education Trust Fund."

The ETF is one of two funds that provide money for state services. The other is the General Fund, which funds most activities besides education. Because of a faltering national economy, the growth of both funds has been less than anticipated.

The Legislature approved an ETF budget of about $6.3 billion for fiscal 2009 that starts in October, approximately $368 million less than the state is providing this year. Higher education was cut more than K-12, state officials explain, because colleges and universities have access to other revenues.

Those revenues come primarily from tuition, and Keeter said members of the Auburn Board of Trustees have been informed that they should expect a proposal for a 12 percent increase in tuition later this month.

"As you probably remember, Auburn students in the past have supported higher tuition increases than what was suggested by the administration specifically to help prepare for the situation we are facing today," he said. "Auburn will use some of those funds to help offset the current budget deficit."

He said AU's goal is to minimize as much as possible the consequences for students and Auburn's colleges and schools.

"We have already prioritized plans for the next academic year, and non-academic areas will see the largest cuts," Keeter said. "Academic support areas will experience some reductions,and direct academic areas in teaching will be reduced the least. In addition, some new initiatives may have to be delayed."

Little said he was pleased that the approved budget contained line items guaranteeing $75,000 for AU's Jule Collins Smith Art Museum and $50,000 for the Ralph Draughon Library. The AU library has not been guaranteed money in past state budgets, he said.

Keeter said that Auburn has served thousands of students for 150 years, during much worse economic times.

In addition, he said, the university has created economic opportunity in the state and fostered discovery and innovation.

"We will continue to move forward with the help of the Auburn family," he said. "Auburn will continue to do so in the future."

http://www.auburnvillager.com/story.html?1213283097024203