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February 7, 2008

Rendell proposes 1.3 percent appropriation hike

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has proposed a 1.3 percent increase in Pitt’s appropriation for fiscal year 2009.

The governor recommended $170.33 million in state support for Pitt as part of the budget proposal he presented Feb. 5 to the General Assembly. Pitt is receiving $168.17 million in state support in the current fiscal year.

Rendell recommended a 1.5 percent increase in Pitt’s education and general (E&G) budget while proposing no changes in line items for student life initiatives ($435,000), recruitment of the disadvantaged ($442,000) and WPIC Services for Teens at Risk ($523,000). The governor proposed cutting the appropriation for rural education outreach 12.2 percent to $2.16 million.

The governor’s plan falls far short of the 8.5 percent increase Pitt asked for last September in its annual budget request. The University was seeking $202.8 million, including nearly $178.3 million in E&G funding, for FY09. If Pitt received that level of state support, administrators said, the University intended to limit tuition increases to 4 percent and to increase the compensation pool by at least 4 percent for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2008.

Pitt Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations Paul Supowitz said the University had expected a gap between its request and the governor’s proposal. Supowitz labeled the proposed appropriation “disappointing,” although he added, “I can’t say the expectations were high.”

Noting that Pitt’s annual request is based on what the University feels it needs, Supowitz said he couldn’t predict the impact on tuition or the salary pool. “Despite disappointing budgets, the University’s worked hard to keep compensation numbers as high as possible under the circumstances,” he said. Supowitz added that the University will continue to emphasize to legislators that Pennsylvania isn’t keeping up with inflation in its higher education funding.

Pennsylvania placed 46th in the nation with an increase of 7.1 percent in state support for higher education between FY06 and FY08, according to a recent survey by Illinois State University education policy researchers.

“We’re losing ground,” Supowitz said. “If (legislators) want to keep it affordable for Pennsylvania kids, they’re going to have to step up a bit,” he said.

Supowitz noted that fiscally conservative members of the General Assembly want a no-growth budget, “But that means keeping pace with inflation. We haven’t kept up with inflation.”

In his speech to the General Assembly Tuesday, the governor cited an inflation rate of 4.1 percent as he proposed a state budget increase of 4.2 percent.

Rendell’s $28.3 billion state general fund budget includes $2.06 billion in total funding for higher education institutions and grants and aid. In his proposal, the governor allocated 1.5 percent increases to the operating (E&G) budgets of the four state-related universities (Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln), while State System of Higher Education schools would receive a 3 percent operating increase. Rendell’s budget also proposes a 3 percent increase in total funding for community colleges. Supowitz said state-related schools consistently have been funded at a lower level than the community colleges and state system schools.

Last February Rendell proposed a $167.86 million appropriation for Pitt, an increase of 1.96 percent in response to the University’s request for an 8.5 percent increase to $198.54 million.

In July, the state legislature ultimately approved a 2.16 percent increase, appropriating $168.17 million, including $164.3 million in education and general (E&G) funding toward Pitt’s FY08 operating budget of $1.64 billion.

The governor’s budget proposal, made on the first Tuesday in February each year, is just one of many steps in the state budget process. The House and Senate appropriations committees next will hold hearings to review requests for funds before a general appropriations bill is presented to the legislature for approval. Pitt administrators are scheduled to make their presentation to the committees on Feb. 26. Ideally, a new budget is passed prior to the June 30 end of the state’s fiscal year, although legislators have not done so since 2002.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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