Legislature adds $23.6m to system line; Measure awaits governor's action Daniel J. Fitzgibbons CHRONICLE STAFF July 28, 2000 Eighteen days into the new fiscal year, legislators last week approved a $21.55 billion state budget and sent the measure on to Gov. Paul Cellucci, allowing lawmakers a sliver of time to consider overriding any possible vetoes before the legislative session ends July 31. The budget package includes a maintenance appropriation of $479,272,165 for the University system, an increase of $27.6 million or 6.1 percent over last year's allocation. However, when supplemental appropriations to fund collective bargaining agreements are factored in, the FY01 appropriation is actually an increase of $23.6 million, or 5.2 percent more than last year. The University requested an increase of $46 million for this year. According to an analysis by the University Budget Office in Boston, the additional $23.6 million will cover an estimated $14.4 million included as part of current union contracts across the five-campus system, leaving $9.2 million for other operating costs. But until campus budgets are finalized by the President's Office and approved by the Board of Trustees, it re-mains unclear how the campus's budget situation will play out. Last winter, Chancellor David Scott directed all campus departments to plan for possible budget reductions. Citing financial costs of new programs, deferred and facilities maintenance, central services and new information systems, Scott said campus expenses were outpacing available funding. In response, he asked non-academic departments to plan for reductions of 1.5 percent, while academic units were instructed to plan for cuts of half that size. Hopes for some relief in the form of a capital reserve for facilities maintenance did not materialize in the final budget sent to the governor. The House version of the budget included an $8 million reserve for the University system, an increase of $4 million from last year. However, the capital reserve was held in conference, though some lawmakers suggested the issue may be addressed in supplemental budget action in the weeks ahead. The University system did fare better on several other counts in the legislative budget package, including a new $10 million endowment incentive program that will provide a match of 75 cents for each dollar raised privately for endowed professorships. According to the President's Office, the fund could realize $23.3 million in endowment funds, enough to support 15 faculty chairs. The Legislature also appropriated $1.75 million for Commonwealth College and $1.68 million for the Toxic Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell. Those allocations equal last year's funding. Earmarks within the campus budget for several programs, including the Center for Rural Massachusetts ($69,566), UMass Extension ($968,725), Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research ($621,000), the Collaborative Biomedical Research Program with Baystate Medical Center ($250,000) and library reference materials ($1 million) all remain at last year's levels. A proposed $100,000 for a state apiculturalist was killed by the conference committee. A separate reserve line item in the budget provides $1.7 million for the redevelopment of the Star Store in downtown New Bedford to house the Dartmouth campus's College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Dartmouth campus is also in line for a $1.2 million grant for an Advanced Manufacturing Center in Fall River. The grant is earmarked within the appropriation for the state Department of Economic Development. According to the President's Office, direct funding for the University, including the maintenance appropriation, Commonwealth College, Toxic Use Reduction Institute and the Star Store project, represents a 7.7 percent increase over last year's support. By comparison, that increase places the University ahead of the state and community college systems. According to the President's Office, funding for the state colleges went up by an average of 4.8 percent over last year. The community colleges received an increase of 8.6 percent, but $5 million of that funding is for two workforce development programs. Once that $5 million is subtracted, the community colleges' increase is actually 6.2 percent more than last year. Locally, Westfield State College's budget appropriation is $20,770,665, up 3.8 percent from FY00. Greenfield Community College received $8,277,222, an increase of 6 percent, while Holyoke Community College is in line for an 11 percent hike to $15,995,804. Springfield Technical Community College's appropriation is up 5 percent to $21,932,785. In other higher education-related areas, the legislative budget includes $14 million for library reference materials, the same amount funded last year. The package provides $2.5 million for the Board of Higher Education and another $2.9 million for the Performance Incentive Reserve fund controlled by the board. That fund, which provides grants to individual campuses, was funded at $6 million last year. Funding for the state's General Scholarship Program is down $1.2 million from last year's budget. Of the $100 million included in the FY01 budget package, about $9.7 million is designated for students attending the University, the same as last year. The legislative plan also contains $12 million for the State College Access Program, a new initiative. Meanwhile, the budget package is under review by the Cellucci administration. Once he has received the budget, the governor has 10 days to veto sections of the package, reduce appropriations or send the measure back to the Legislature with suggested amendments. According to news reports, Cellucci wants to cut some $100 million in state funding. As the Chronicle went to press, at least one campus union was urging members to lobby legislators against a possible cut in funding for state employee health insurance. In an e-mail circulated Wednesday, Local 509 of the Service Employees International Union warned that Cellucci favors raising the employees' contribution to health insurance from the current 15 percent to 25 percent. The state currently pays 85 percent of health insurance costs. The governor has tried unsuccessfully in the past to raise the share paid by state workers.