Nineteen percent cut significantly less than Corbett’s initial proposal
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — After several months of debate, Pennsylvania's four state-related universities will be receiving about $129 million less than they did this past year, but the cuts are much less dramatic than initially proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
The state funding cuts approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Friday amount to a 19 percent reduction for Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln universities, which are classified differently from the 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education, or SSHE.
With the bills finally moving out of the House Appropriations Committee, it likely cements their funding levels for next year. While changes could be made as the bills’ progress through the state House and Senate, they are unlikely to occur, because legislative leaders have reached a budget agreement with Corbett.
“We have done our best in order to spend the taxpayers’ money in Pennsylvania, considering all the economic factors we had,” said State Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware.
A portion of the cuts are due to the disappearance of the federal stimulus funds, which accounted for about $23 million of the schools’ funding this past year.
In his initial budget proposal, Corbett called for a 50 percent cut — about $352 million — for the state-related schools, leaving the leaders of the universities howling.
In the legislation passed Friday, Penn State will receive $272 million this year, down from $335 million this past year. Penn State spokesman Geoff Rushtin said the school would not comment on the specific impact of the cuts until the state budget was passed.
“Our students and their families are grateful (for) every dollar of state support the university receives, and we appreciate the efforts of legislators to moderate the cut in our appropriation,” wrote Rushtin in an email.
The University of Pittsburgh will see a reduction from $167 million this past year to $136 million this year.
Robert Hill, the university’s vice chancellor for public affairs, also declined to comment until the budget becomes law.
Temple’s funding will drop from $172 million to $139 million and Lincoln University, from $13 million to $11 million. Calls to those schools were not returned Friday.
The funding bills for the four schools passed along party lines, with Democrats opposing, because they wanted to see more state funding for higher education.
“We do have that surplus money,” said state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre. “A yes vote to this is saying, ‘I’m voting to decrease funding to my university by 19 percent.’”
Adolph said the state is likely to have $650 million in excess revenue at the end of the fiscal year, but the level of restorations to higher education funding cuts were at the limit of what a fiscally responsible budget could have. He pointed to the state’s outstanding debt of nearly $4 billion to the federal government for unemployment compensation.
Next week, the legislature will consider funding levels for SSHE, a separate grouping of 14 schools funded by the state. Adolph said Friday that the level of funding cut from those schools has not been determined, but was expected to be in the range of 18 percent.
In his initial budget proposal, Corbett called for a 50 percent reduction — totaling $270 million — in state funding for the state system schools as well.
