Gov. Pawlenty makes an offer
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a budget offer today (May 16) to DFL legislative leaders.
The Legislative Commission on Planning and Fiscal Policy ground through the governor’s offer this afternoon at the Capitol.
Some of provisions of the offer, designed to close a $2.8 billion budget gap, includes the acceptance of the House K-12 funding shift — a $1.75 billion gesture — while Pawlenty agreed to lessen his proposed local government aid cuts by about $58 million.
The governor looks for $250 million in additional health and human services cuts — Pawlenty proposes using the health care access fund surplus for appropriate uses — and also looks to cutting higher education an additional $190 million for the next two-year spending cycle.
Democrats argued the proposed cut endangered the higher education federal stimulus funding and also include impact K-12 funding.
University of Minnesota President Bob Bruininks cautioned against cutting deeper.
“We have to take our lumps. I understand that,” Bruininks said.
The president warned of possible tuition increases stemming from additional cuts and also of the lingering aftermath of the deeper cuts when the federal stimulus dollars go away.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Chancellor James McCormick said the system took deep cuts just a few years ago.
Now we’re talking about another major cut — that would be difficult, he said.
“We have to have a world class, global workforce,” said McCormick.
He question how Minnesota could maintain its quality of life without making investments in its workforce.
“When times are challenging, more people are coming back,” McCormick said of growing MnSCU enrollment.
“We’re not gong to be whiners. But this is not good,” he said of the proposed additional cuts.
Another MnSCU officials indicated that additional funding cut could work to drive tuition up.
“That’s a very frightening number of us,” said MnSCU Vice Chancellor Laura King.
Rather than allowing major tuition increase they could consider limiting enrollment, she opined.
MnSCU and the university received about two percent funding cuts under the DFL higher education bill.
But the cuts were softened through the use of one-time federal stimulus dollars.
McCormick suggested that the cuts could translate into a job loss at MnSCU from 500 to 800 employees.
MnSCU officials said the system is holding about five percent of campus budgets, about $50 million, in budget reserves.
That’s about a quarter of the amount outside auditors have recommended, said King.
The commission continued its review of the Pawlenty offer into the evening.
The legislative session ticks to a close Monday night.
