Higher education funds restored in compromise
The UM system is slated to receive flat appropriation.
Published May 3, 2005
After a harrowing few weeks, UM system officials will finally get what they've been hoping for.
A conference committee of House and Senate members completed work today on House Bill 3, which appropriates money for higher education. Senate Budget Analyst Paul Wagner said the committee did not make the 5 percent cut recommended by the Senate, which would have cut $18 million from the UM system's operating budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Under the conference committee's recommendations, the UM system would receive the same amount from the state it did last year, just more than $400 million.
MU officials said they had budgeted using a flat appropriation since Gov. Matt Blunt promised not to cut from higher education in his State of the State address in January.
The House's budget proposal also included flat approprations for higher education.
Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, sat on the committee.
"They took the House position for all of the four-year institutions," Baker said. "MU is held harmless at this point, and that should stay that way."
Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, called the committee's decision "good news," and attributed it to Blunt threatening a veto.
Baker said the bill still concerns her.
"Because I don't think 46th in per-resident state funding (in the nation) is adequate. I would like to see us work next year on moving up," Baker said. "I'm still quite concerned about our tuition affordability."
Baker said she was mostly pleased with the committee's work, but hopes to see more relief for higher education in coming years.
"I'm hoping the revenue picture improves," Baker said. "Because it has been kept flat and negative for so many years, I would hope higher education gets some priority."
Now that the bill has passed out of the conference committee, it will wait until other conference committees complete work on the remaining budget bills.
Once conference committees complete their work, bills will go before both bodies of the General Assembly for a final vote before arriving on Blunt's desk.
Wagner said he has never seen a conference committee's reccomendations defeated.
The General Assembly must pass the budget by Friday.
Although universities' operating budgets, grants and scholarships were not cut, some UM system-related programs did receive cuts. The conference committee kept the recommended Senate cuts for both the Missouri Bibliographic Information User System and MOREnet, a computer network shared by K-12 school districts, higher education institutions, libraries and state government.
Robb said though some MOREnet funding was cut, it still received enough to continue to operate.
MOREnet officials said the cuts would lead to a prioritization of services the program offers and possibly an increased user fee.
Baker said she and Rep. Barbara Fraser, D-St. Louis, did not sign the bill because of the cuts to MOREnet.
The committee's proposal also includes $1.95 million the House allocated to the University of Missouri-Kansas City's dentistry program. The Senate had recommended allocating only $1 million to that project.