Tuesday, July 27, 2004 11:52 AM CDT
Eastern's funding intact within new state budget
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- At one point last month, the state's budget stalemate even threatened the paychecks of Eastern Illinois University employees.
But in the end, the impasse actually benefited the Charleston university, as Republican lawmakers used the delay -- and the increased leverage it afforded them -- to nix the governor's higher education cuts, according to local legislators.
"Once we went into overtime and Republican votes were required ... that was one we immediately put on the table," said state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.
Following 54 days of gridlock, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois General Assembly on Saturday agreed on a $56-billion spending plan that, among many other things, will fund public universities at the same level as last year.
That was the recommendation of the Illinois Board of Higher Education early this year.
In February, however, Blagojevich called for a 2-percent aid reduction to state universities, which would have cost EIU almost $1 million. The Charleston school in June passed a 2005 fiscal year budget which accounted for those cuts.
So what will EIU do with an unexpected $953,000?
"If this budget is indeed the budget passed by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, then that means we will have nine-hundred-some thousand dollars we won't have to make in cuts," said EIU President Lou Hencken.
He added that the university may use the windfall to fill some vacant employee positions left open to save money, including jobs with the EIU police department and library.
Also, the university may be able to purchase some "much-needed educational equipment," such as computers for faculty and students, according to Hencken.
According to Righter, the "huge win" for Republican lawmakers emerged from an apparent defeat — the tentative budget passed by the state Senate included the 2 percent cut Blagojevich proposed in February.
The IBHE had initially recommended university funding identical to 2004 levels for several reasons, according to Don Sevener, board spokesman.
"They believed that a level-funded budget would be not only adequate ... but the best that could be obtained," he said.
When lawmakers failed to enact a comprehensive budget by May 31, the minority Republican Party found new negotiating power. Passage of a budget after the Memorial Day deadline now required the vote of three-fifths of the legislature, rather than just a simple majority.
State GOP lawmakers took advantage of the weighted majority by requiring Blagojevich's signature on a "memorandum of intent" promising not to demand universities hold any state aid in reserve next year.
"They (universities) are going to get no cuts, and no reserve, which is a great victory for them," said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.
In May, less than 50 days before the end of the fiscal year, the governor called back the money he previously forbade universities from spending, which trimmed another $1 million from EIU's budget.
"That (Blagojevich's latest promise) would be wonderful," said President Hencken. "When we get our budget numbers, we can go ahead and plan our budget for the rest of the year without having to worry about this sword dangling over our heads."
And the necessity for additional Republican votes also prevented a last-minute $6 million cut to state community colleges, Righter reported.
About a week ago, Democrats pitched that idea to help cover the Chicago city colleges' budget request of more than $15 million.
But local Republican legislators believe the contest for university funding isn't over.
"I have every expectation that we're going to be fighting this fight as long as this guy's governor," said Rep. Rose.
Over the weekend, Blagojevich reportedly told National Public Radio he had considered as much as a 4 percent reduction in higher education spending.
This led Republicans to draft the memorandum of intent about the funding reserves, said Righter.
"We expect him to stick to that," he commented.
Sevener expects higher education lobbying to increase. "We have to do a better job of convincing the administration that colleges and universities have in fact cut back on the administrative costs that are of concern to (Blagojevich)," he said.
He noted universities rerouted a total of $74 million dollars from administrative budgets "to cover the kind of cuts they've had to endure from Springfield."
For the time being, EIU officials are just happy to avoid the axe -- this time.
Hencken praised the lawmakers like Righter and Rose who rallied behind the university community.
"People saw that higher education had been hit for three years in a row, and probably could not have taken another budget cut without seriously affecting the academic mission of the universities," said Hencken.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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