Spring Break
State dedicates $40 million more for Illinois colleges
Administration says more funds still needed
Krystal Moya / Administration Editor
Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: News
Gov. Pat Quinn delivered "Tough Choices" in presenting his Fiscal Year 2010 budget plan to the General Assembly Wednesday.
Under the headings of "Reform, Responsibility and Recovery," he relayed his plan to close the $11.6 billion budget deficit, without allowing higher education in the state to suffer.
In Quinn's budget, an additional $40 million is dedicated to all higher education institutions in Illinois.
Of those funds, Eastern will receive less than a million, but administrators say that the increase is what they had hoped for.
Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs and William Weber, interim budget director, provided a combined response via e-mail saying "even a small increase is terrific news given the current economic situation."
Illinois is currently ranked third in budget deficits in the 10 largest states, outranked by only California and New York. Illinois has also projected its unemployment rate to soar to 9.7 percent in 2010, according to measurements taken by the Center for Policy and Budget Priorities.
In January, Illinois' unemployment rate was 7.9 percent - higher than the national average and the highest rate in 15 years.
But despite the recession that has projected Illinois revenue income to match 2004, a year where the governor and general assembly chose to make major cuts to higher education funding, Quinn emphasizes not letting colleges and universities to be victimized by the ailing economy.
"We need to preserve our commitment to education," he said in his address.
In the budget's overview presentation, he also mentions that legislators should refrain from including health and education in cuts to grant programs. Instead, he outlines that the 2 percent of cuts in grant programs across the board should completely exclude the two criteria.
"If cuts were to be made, 17,000 fewer students would receive MAP grants, and 60,000 additional students would have to be applied to a waiting list," it said.
MAP Grants are part of the state scholarship program awarded through financial aid. Eastern's financial aid director, Jone Zieren, has recently warned that funds through the program could dry up quickly because of the economy and cuts.
Quinn also wants to aid students and parents through a back-to-school sales tax holiday. It would be applied in August for 10 days to clothing and shoes under $100 and school supplies. Quinn believes it will also bolster retail sales.
However, even with the projected increase to Eastern's general funds from the state, in light of the recession, Nilsen, McCann and Weber remain unsure as to where Eastern's 2009 and 2010 budgets stand.
"We do not know at this time (where the budgets stand)," they said. "The General Assembly will have to act on the Governor's proposal ... The legislators will review the Governor's budget and most likely make some changes. A budget bill will be passed, but we do not know when ... We are awaiting further direction regarding (Fiscal Year 2009)."
The administrators refer to the 2.5 percent of general funds that were awarded for the 2009 fiscal year from the state that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked all public colleges and universities to put on reserve so that it might be recollected. Eastern has had the money on reserve since November but had never appropriated the funds foreseeing such a recall.
"The 2.5 percent is still being held in reserve," they said. "We have received no instructions from the Governor's office at this time as to how to proceed."
Though the increase was celebratory for the administrators because of the ominous light shed by the recession, it still cannot cover the total costs Eastern realistically needs, according to Nilsen, McCann and Weber.
"Our main sources of income are the money received from the state and the dollars we receive through tuition and fees," they said. "As the state dollars remain static or decrease, tuition and fees rise in order to keep up with costs of running the campus. These costs include salaries, utilities, phones, postage, etc.
"We need operational dollars that supports an excellent academic experience for our students and capital dollars to maintain, upgrade, and build an infrastructure which reflects quality."
It would take an additional $17.3 million in the current general revenue appropriation to have the same purchasing power as the funding received in Fiscal Year 2002.
The administrators concluded that cuts would remain along the same line as those proposed by President Bill Perry in November through a campus-wide e-mail.
Perry said that cuts would be made mostly to non-safety related maintenance in that e-mail.
They also said that the status of the 2009 and 2010 budgets should be relayed at the end of the Spring Legislative Session at the end of May. Until then, they will continue to hawk fiscal necessities on behalf of Eastern.
"We will be providing testimony regarding our budget needs to both the House and the Senate appropriations committees and talking with legislators one-on-one."
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
Under the headings of "Reform, Responsibility and Recovery," he relayed his plan to close the $11.6 billion budget deficit, without allowing higher education in the state to suffer.
In Quinn's budget, an additional $40 million is dedicated to all higher education institutions in Illinois.
Of those funds, Eastern will receive less than a million, but administrators say that the increase is what they had hoped for.
Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs and William Weber, interim budget director, provided a combined response via e-mail saying "even a small increase is terrific news given the current economic situation."
Illinois is currently ranked third in budget deficits in the 10 largest states, outranked by only California and New York. Illinois has also projected its unemployment rate to soar to 9.7 percent in 2010, according to measurements taken by the Center for Policy and Budget Priorities.
In January, Illinois' unemployment rate was 7.9 percent - higher than the national average and the highest rate in 15 years.
But despite the recession that has projected Illinois revenue income to match 2004, a year where the governor and general assembly chose to make major cuts to higher education funding, Quinn emphasizes not letting colleges and universities to be victimized by the ailing economy.
"We need to preserve our commitment to education," he said in his address.
In the budget's overview presentation, he also mentions that legislators should refrain from including health and education in cuts to grant programs. Instead, he outlines that the 2 percent of cuts in grant programs across the board should completely exclude the two criteria.
"If cuts were to be made, 17,000 fewer students would receive MAP grants, and 60,000 additional students would have to be applied to a waiting list," it said.
MAP Grants are part of the state scholarship program awarded through financial aid. Eastern's financial aid director, Jone Zieren, has recently warned that funds through the program could dry up quickly because of the economy and cuts.
Quinn also wants to aid students and parents through a back-to-school sales tax holiday. It would be applied in August for 10 days to clothing and shoes under $100 and school supplies. Quinn believes it will also bolster retail sales.
However, even with the projected increase to Eastern's general funds from the state, in light of the recession, Nilsen, McCann and Weber remain unsure as to where Eastern's 2009 and 2010 budgets stand.
"We do not know at this time (where the budgets stand)," they said. "The General Assembly will have to act on the Governor's proposal ... The legislators will review the Governor's budget and most likely make some changes. A budget bill will be passed, but we do not know when ... We are awaiting further direction regarding (Fiscal Year 2009)."
The administrators refer to the 2.5 percent of general funds that were awarded for the 2009 fiscal year from the state that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked all public colleges and universities to put on reserve so that it might be recollected. Eastern has had the money on reserve since November but had never appropriated the funds foreseeing such a recall.
"The 2.5 percent is still being held in reserve," they said. "We have received no instructions from the Governor's office at this time as to how to proceed."
Though the increase was celebratory for the administrators because of the ominous light shed by the recession, it still cannot cover the total costs Eastern realistically needs, according to Nilsen, McCann and Weber.
"Our main sources of income are the money received from the state and the dollars we receive through tuition and fees," they said. "As the state dollars remain static or decrease, tuition and fees rise in order to keep up with costs of running the campus. These costs include salaries, utilities, phones, postage, etc.
"We need operational dollars that supports an excellent academic experience for our students and capital dollars to maintain, upgrade, and build an infrastructure which reflects quality."
It would take an additional $17.3 million in the current general revenue appropriation to have the same purchasing power as the funding received in Fiscal Year 2002.
The administrators concluded that cuts would remain along the same line as those proposed by President Bill Perry in November through a campus-wide e-mail.
Perry said that cuts would be made mostly to non-safety related maintenance in that e-mail.
They also said that the status of the 2009 and 2010 budgets should be relayed at the end of the Spring Legislative Session at the end of May. Until then, they will continue to hawk fiscal necessities on behalf of Eastern.
"We will be providing testimony regarding our budget needs to both the House and the Senate appropriations committees and talking with legislators one-on-one."
Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at ksmoya@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this story