ANNAPOLIS – The university’s funding survived its first encounter with the General Assembly yesterday, as virtually no cuts to funding for the university system were proposed during a hearing.
The friendly reception legislators gave to University System of Maryland’s budget is a positive sign funding for higher education isn’t being targeted as lawmakers grapple with Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget proposal, which closed a $2 billion state budget deficit.
The lone cut advised by analysts for the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee was a $5.6 million reduction in the amount given to the Higher Education Investment Fund, which legislators seemed ambivalent about. The reduction is meant to reflect lower anticipated revenue from corporate taxes, which are allocated to the fund.
However, university officials argued that the cut already occurred when O’Malley proposed the budget.
“Our response is the governor’s office already knew [HEIF] was underperforming,” said University System of Maryland lobbyist P.J. Hogan. “If you take that one off and say there was a misunderstanding, they recommended no further cuts.”
University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan said the reduction would be a “double cut.”
“We have already accommodated underfunding in the state budget,” Kirwan testified. “We strongly urge you not to adopt this recommendation because it would in effect make that reduction twice.”
The fund is the state’s first and only dedicated source of funding for higher education and is meant to provide a buffer to prevent the severe tuition increases or budget decreases in the future.
While Kirwan disagreed with the proposed cut to the fund, both he and Board of Regents Chairman Cliff Kendall had more success defending the system’s budget increase during the hearing, which was held before the House Subcommittee on Education and Economic Development yesterday. The university system was one of the few areas receiving an increase in funding from the state under O’Malley’s proposal, which legislators can take away from but not add to. The proposed increase is enough to cover increased costs due to inflation.
Kirwan cited the system’s efforts in closing the achievement gaps plaguing minority and low-income students, promoting economic growth and eliminating wasteful spending in the system. He said the state was a poster child for its ability to grow a knowledge-based economy and provide affordable education and promised committee members they would be pleased with their investment.
Committee members had few questions besides concerns voiced by Del. John Bohanan (D-St. Mary’s) about what the system is doing to deal with coming shortages of teachers and nurses and closing the achievement gap. Bohanan said he would like to see the system study the gap further to make the best use of state money.
Kirwan said all of the system’s 11 colleges and universities were working toward eliminating the achievement gap within a decade.
“Quite frankly as a state and as a nation, we are not going to be able to prosper if we don’t fix it,” he said.
The chancellor also pointed to the system’s cost containment policies, which require some departments to generate as much revenue as they spend, to a hiring freeze that began in November and to a system-wide construction backlog of more than $1 billion as reasons the budget should remain intact.
Officials were pleased the tuition freeze and budget increase were left untouched but said the budget situation was far from settled and dependent on external events.
“I think everyone is kind of on hold to see stimulus package and revenue estimates,” Kirwan said. “Once those numbers come in, then we’ll see a flurry of activity with the budget.”
The passage of a federal economic stimulus package, which is expected to include both extra funding for state governments and for higher education, is anticipated sometime soon. New state revenue estimates are due in March.
Hearings focusing on the budgets of each institution in the system, including this university, will happen before the end of the General Assembly session.
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