May 18, 2009

Purdue watches, waits as legislature continues work on budget

Purdue's priorities remain the same as the Indiana General Assembly continues its work on a state budget.

"Now that the legislature has passed its April 29 deadline, we're headed to overtime on the budget," says Tim Sanders, associate vice president for governmental relations. "In many respects we'll be starting from square one. Purdue still has the same issues and objectives, but now we must wait to see if the state will have the resources available to address them."

The state's fiscal leaders have called for a new revenue forecast, and expect the governor to outline his budget after the new forecast is presented at the end of May.

"We then expect them to negotiate a budget all parties can live with before the governor calls all 150 legislators back for the special session in mid-June," Sanders says. "The challenge will be finding the right balance between fiscal restraint and meeting the state's needs."

One aspect of the budget Purdue hopes is considered during the special session is the Indiana Innovation Alliance, a partnership between Purdue and Indiana University designed to grow the state's life sciences and bioscience economy.

"Funding for this important initiative was included in the House budget at $35 million per year, and in both the Senate budget and the conference committee version that ultimately failed to pass the House at $27.5 million per year," says Susan Brock Williams, legislative initiative director. "Clearly the legislature recognizes the leading role Purdue and IU play in evolving Indiana's economy by growing the life sciences."

The budget bill wasn't the only issue on the minds of legislators and Purdue officials during the regular session. More than 180 other bills made it through both houses and conference committee changes to end up on the governor's desk for signature.

"Tracking issues in conference committee this year was not easy," says Kevin Green, director of state relations. "One set of changes we were following was in and out of two bills before failing to pass in a third."

Changes that would have eliminated the cap on energy savings projects universities could undertake were originally found in House Bill 1254, Energy Cost Savings Contracts, authored by Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette.

Although the bill didn't get a hearing in the House, similar language was amended into HB1620, Energy Efficient Buildings, authored by Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. It passed the House, but the bill died in the Senate.

The revised changes were then put into HB1447, Taxation Matters, authored by Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, in committee by the Senate. The conference committee report for HB1447 passed the Senate in time, but it did not pass the House prior to adjournment.

"It often happens that changes like this evolve along the way," Green says. "It went from a removal of the current $10 million cap per university, to a $15 million cap per university, to a $10 million cap per campus, essentially giving each of Purdue's four campuses the limit all must operate under currently. All of these versions would have helped Purdue address energy savings measures. We're at the cap right now, but have no shortage of projects we could undertake. Occasionally you make it to the end and run out of time."

Other bills Purdue tracked during the session included Senate Bill 232, Public Access Issues, authored by Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield. Efforts to attach the bill to HB1280 in the Senate and to HB1514 in conference committee were unsuccessful.

"It would have been beneficial to have the provisions to protect the identity of minors participating in university programs and activities; however, there were other concerns that eventually caused the original measure to fail," Green says.

Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, authored HB1132, Department of Correction and Police Powers, which eventually became the home to language dealing with the jurisdiction of university police. It originated in both HB1023 and SB54, each clearing its house of origin but dying in the second house.

Amendments to HB1132 in the Senate would have further restricted the jurisdictional powers of university police instead of enhancing them. Efforts to convince conference committee members to implement the original changes failed, so the restrictive language was removed from the report that passed and was signed by the governor.

"Sometimes you run into concerns that legislators have, but you cannot convince them otherwise," Green says. "The status quo was better than what was proposed at the end. We could not afford to jeopardize the safety and security of students, staff, faculty, and visitors."