Appropriations committee approves 3.1 percent cut to public university funding
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 3.1 percent cut on Wednesday to state aid for public universities.
For Central Michigan University, that means a more than $2.5 million cut in state appropriations, taking into account what has come in during the current fiscal year.
The bill will go to the Senate floor next week. If approved there, it will go to the House, said Ellen Jeffries, deputy director of the Senate Fiscal Agency.
“These are not decisions that I enjoy making,” said State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant. “When your revenues are down 25 percent... the universities are probably already making decisions on what they are going to have to do.”
If the House and the Senate’s bill drafts have differences, the next step is conference meetings to come to an agreement, Caul said.
The hope is to have budgets final by the end of June, he said. But whatever the final decision is, the outcome will not take effect until Oct. 1.
David Burdette, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, said the 3.1 percent is less than what was expected.
The university is prepared for the potential cut, Burdette said. Last year was about the same cut, except there was about $2.4 million in stimulus money.
“I think we are right were we need to be,” he said. “For today, that’s good news.”
The amount of 3.1 percent could change depending on whether revenues change in the near future, but the committees now are going off of assumptions, said Jennifer Bowman, chief of staff to State Sen. Tony Stamas, R-Midland.
The state’s revenue essentially could go up or down, she said.
“At this point I don’t think anyone sees revenue going up,” Bowman said. “There will be, I believe, cuts in every budget. I think we are just going off of data we have right now. There are a lot of moving parts.”
If the amount stands, Burdette said CMU is ready, but it could change next week. But it’s still too early to tell if the cut in appropriations will affect tuition rates, he said.
This is only step one of the process, Caul said. The final outcome is yet to be determined.
The state needs to make sure the budget comes out balanced, he said. And at the very least, the state is looking at a $1.7 billion deficit.
The 3.1 percent is consistent with what Gov. Jennifer Granholm thought would be needed last year, Caul said, noting the only difference was last year cuts were offset with stimulus money.
“I’m hopeful that we can keep the cuts to a minimum,” Caul said.
