Conference panel takes up budgets

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

he fiscal 2004 state budget is in the hands of a six-member, joint legislative conference committee following the Senate's passage of a $22.7 billion spending plan on May 30.

     Overall, the Senate cut funding for public higher education by nearly $108 million or 11.1 percent. Funding for the state college system was reduced by $23.4 million or 11.9 percent, while the community colleges lost $26.9 million or 12.1 percent.

     The Senate budget allocates $383,448,177 to the UMass system, with an estimated $93.5 million coming from tuition retention. Even with the addition of tuition revenue, the Senate's proposed appropriation represents a reduction of more than $52.8 million or 12.1 percent from the current budget of $436.3 million.

     The House previously approved an allocation of $356,470,020 - a reduction of $79.8 million or 18 percent. The House budget only authorizes a two-year pilot program of partial out-of-state tuition retention at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

     The two budgets also differ on support for several University-related items, including the endowment incentive for professorships and two Dartmouth campus projects: the Advanced Technology Center in Fall River and the Star Store in New Bedford.

     The endowment incentive, which provides matching funds for private donations for professorships, received $2 million in the House budget but is unfunded in the Senate version. The program is currently funded at $2 million.

     The Star Store Reserve was not funded by the House, but the Senate set aside more than $2.4 million for the project. This year, the reserve was given more than $2.7 million. The Advanced Technology Center, currently funded at more than $1.1 million, was allocated $550,442 by the House and $968,778 by the Senate.

     Senators also adopted language stating that "spending reductions directly impacting the operation of the office of the president...shall be no less than proportional to spending reductions impacting the university as a whole."

     Another section of the Senate measure requires the Board of Higher Education to evaluate tuition and fees in the higher education system and make recommendations regarding the consolidation of tuition and fees, policies for setting tuition levels, the funding of tuition waivers and the funding of fringe benefit costs of employees paid from tuition retention funds.

     Commonwealth College is level-funded at $1.715 million in both versions of the budget.
In other areas of the budget, the Senate added $7,396 to the state scholarship program, an increase of less than 1 percent in this year's allocation of $91,603,455. The House previously reduced funding for scholarships by $9.1 million.

     Library funding fared no better in the Senate than the House, with both chambers opting to eliminate all support.

     The House also created a $5 million higher education efficiency incentive program to promote cost savings. The item is not part of the Senate plan.

     The conference committee members are Rep. John Rogers (D-Norwood), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Peter Larkin (D-Pitts-field), Rep. Vinny deMacedo (R-Plymouth), Sen. Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Sen. Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), and Sen. Michael Knapik (R-Westfield).