Spring Break
Budget trimming cuts deep for students
The battle is on: Joint Ways and Means co-chairs release budget trimming sections from Governor's proposed budget
Lauren L. Dillard and The Associated Press
Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: News
Oregon legislators will be in Corvallis Tuesday to hear testimony on the budget proposal released by the Joint Ways and Means Committee on March 21.
The budget, proposed by co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, and Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland, shaved nearly $35 million off of the proposed $875 million the Governor was willing to grant to higher education.
This trimming of the budget could affect OSU by $12 to $15 million, according to OSU Finance and Administration in calculations released late last week.
The budget also included a nearly $275 million decrease in the amount the governor had allocated for Oregon University System construction projects - this affects OSU at nearly $60 million, according to OSU Finance and Administration.
The construction projects drafted into the Governor's Budget included dollars to specifically help OSU; the co-chairs budget includes no such recommendation of funds, though it does include a goal of continuing "capital investment to maintain infrastructure" within the education section of the budget. Funds are not specifically dedicated to projects within the Oregon University System.
Lawmakers will spend the rest of the session resolving the differences between the governor's budget and the co-chairs budget.
The challenge for post-secondary education will be to convince just enough lawmakers that they should be first in line for any extra money, whether freed up from other sources, brought in by higher-than-expected revenues or from any newly levied taxes or fees.
This is where students come in. The field hearings, including the Tuesday hearing in Corvallis, hosted by the Joint Ways and Means Committee are traveling to find out where citizens want dollars to go.
Students said they also plan to show up at the Capitol in droves to plead their case. Several dozen gave up a day of their spring break to spend a lunch hour serving up Top Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches to passers-by in the Capitol building, underscoring the point that under the current system, students often can't afford to buy much else.
The budget, proposed by co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, and Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland, shaved nearly $35 million off of the proposed $875 million the Governor was willing to grant to higher education.
This trimming of the budget could affect OSU by $12 to $15 million, according to OSU Finance and Administration in calculations released late last week.
The budget also included a nearly $275 million decrease in the amount the governor had allocated for Oregon University System construction projects - this affects OSU at nearly $60 million, according to OSU Finance and Administration.
The construction projects drafted into the Governor's Budget included dollars to specifically help OSU; the co-chairs budget includes no such recommendation of funds, though it does include a goal of continuing "capital investment to maintain infrastructure" within the education section of the budget. Funds are not specifically dedicated to projects within the Oregon University System.
Lawmakers will spend the rest of the session resolving the differences between the governor's budget and the co-chairs budget.
The challenge for post-secondary education will be to convince just enough lawmakers that they should be first in line for any extra money, whether freed up from other sources, brought in by higher-than-expected revenues or from any newly levied taxes or fees.
This is where students come in. The field hearings, including the Tuesday hearing in Corvallis, hosted by the Joint Ways and Means Committee are traveling to find out where citizens want dollars to go.
Students said they also plan to show up at the Capitol in droves to plead their case. Several dozen gave up a day of their spring break to spend a lunch hour serving up Top Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches to passers-by in the Capitol building, underscoring the point that under the current system, students often can't afford to buy much else.
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