Budget Discussions Continue To Dominate
Legislative Session
The General Assembly ended the month of January and moved into February with the state’s fiscal situation dominating discussions. Funding for higher education remains a great concern for Purdue University.
As Update readers may recall, Representative Pat Bauer, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, has introduced House Bill 1001, which is the budget legislators now are working with. A state budget agency version of the spending plan is effectively dead.
The current budget treats Purdue West Lafayette, somewhat better than the recommendation from the budget agency. Representative Bauer’s version restores the more than $6 million in operating budget cuts to West Lafayette. However, $9 million in annual technology funding is still absent.
Rep. Bauer’s version is certainly an improvement. But, If enacted, it would also mean very difficult circumstances for all of higher education.
And while this version is somewhat better for West Lafayette, it deletes certain recommendations that are important for other campuses. For example, because of enrollment growth at Purdue North Central, it was slated to receive about $400,000 in additional funding in the budget agency version. Rep. Bauer’s House Bill 1001 does not fund that adjustment. This shortfall will be hard on campuses with rising enrollments, such as Purdue North Central, the Ivy Tech State College system and the University of Southern Indiana.
It is likely that some of these issues will be addressed in amendments offered to the Ways and Means Committee and on the House floor. But it is clear that without some source of new revenue, funds are simply not available to meet the basic needs of education.
Legislators and members of the administration are very cognizant of these difficulties and are hard at work searching for solutions. It is still early in the process and any prognostication as to the result of these activities is very premature.
Committee activity on other bills has remained fairly light throughout January. With approximately 2,100 bills filed, it is clear that the pace of the legislature will soon increase. In fact, as the committee schedules for early February are being published, the pace of activity is already on the rise.
However, a number of the proposals contained in these bills are absolutely dependent upon the state’s fiscal health. Many initiatives will remain in abeyance until the fiscal situation becomes clear.
In an attempt to consider one potential source of new revenue, the House moved quickly to consider proposals for expanded gaming activities in Indiana. House Bill 1729 moved quickly through the various stages of House consideration and was sent to the Senate. This proposal, which by some estimates could raise as much as $500 million in new revenue for the state, remains quite controversial and will undoubtedly face a much slower pace in the Senate.
The longer-range status of Indiana’s fiscal health continues to attract a great deal of attention from a wide variety of organizations that are active in the political process. The "Indianapolis Star" reports that groups with such disparate interests as the Indiana State Teacher’s Association, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, The Indiana Manufacturer’s Association, and The Indiana Farm Bureau are involved in ongoing discussions. It appears that there is a common concern among many interests about the structure of tax policy in Indiana and some ongoing interest to address
reform.
There are those who suggest the time is right for a significant restructuring of Indiana’s tax mix, with particular concern to the forthcoming reassessment’s impact on property taxes. Additional and very prominent voices suggest that no such effort is necessary and that other measures are sufficient to move the state through this difficult time. The mix of these messages, and the voices which proclaim them, will be the chief attraction of statehouse watchers for the balance of this session.
Other Bills Of Interest To Purdue
There are other bills which are of significant interest to Purdue University. Here are several:
Senate Bill 224– Senator Beverly Gard (R-Greenfield)
It would create the "Indiana Environmental Assistance Program" located at Purdue University. This program would take advantage of existing programs to greatly expand technical assistance available to agriculture, manufacturing and cities and towns. It would also fund applied research intended to investigate possible solutions to existing environmental issues. The proposal would expand several efforts at Purdue, including the Technical Assistance Program and the Extension Service. It would also expand work done by other higher education institutions.
Senate Bill 253– Senator Ron Alting (R-Lafayette)
This bill could be labeled as a university "self help" bill. There are two major components. First, it would allow universities to sell bonds for building projects which are to be constructed from donated funds. This would allow universities to speed up the process for construction of these facilities. Secondly, the bill allows for an increase in the amount of bonds which can be sold for "energy savings" projects. This approach allows a university to install energy savings equipment to be paid for by the savings from reduced energy use. The original legislation which established this program carried a $10 million limit per institution. This means universities with one campus have the same capacity as the Indiana University and Purdue University systems. This bill would raise the limits from $10 million to $20 million and would extend this limit from each institution to each campus.
House Bill 1424– Representative Bauer (D-South Bend)
This bill would develop a number of initiatives to assist with the expansion of the "high tech" segment of Indiana’s economy. Included in the initiatives are the creation of several "high tech" incubators throughout the state patterned after Purdue’s successful activities at the Purdue Research Park. The bill would also include expansion of the Technical Assistance Program to help existing companies in the state and would include an expansion of activities to assist rural communities with opportunities for additional economic development.
To Statehouse Update Home Page
|
Purdue Statehouse Update
