UUP’s 2007 legislative agenda draws kudos from state lawmakers

UUP’s advocacy machine kicked into high gear in late January, with the release of its 2007 legislative agenda at the union’s annual Legislative Luncheon in Albany. UUP members from across the state talked with dozens of state lawmakers, expressing the union’s concerns about the SUNY hospitals and the need for more full-time faculty.

Brooklyn HSCer Barbara Habenstreit tells Assemblyman Dan O'Donnell that the health science center should not be privatized.

Help the hospitals

In the shadow of the Berger Commission’s report that paves the way for the potential privatization of all three SUNY hospitals, UUP ranked the future of the SUNY hospitals as its top priority. UUP President William Scheuerman urged lawmakers to come up with a long-term solution to prevent a fiscal crisis at the teaching hospitals in Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse, and to protect the hospitals’ vital public health mission.

“Instead of weakening the SUNY hospitals, the state should be boosting funding to them so that they can continue their mission of serving the indigent and the uninsured and teaching the state’s next generation of physicians,” Scheuerman said. UUP’s 2007 legislative agenda also calls for the establishment of a new SUNY hospital in Buffalo to train medical students from SUNY Buffalo’s Health Sciences Center.

Maintain the momentum

UUP has also renewed its call for more full-time faculty to teach the thousands of additional students SUNY admits every year. While Scheuerman thanked the Legislature for providing money to hire about 350 more full-time faculty in the state’s 2006-2007 budget, he said the state must increase SUNY’s funding to maintain that momentum and continue making up for years of underfunding.

“The state still has a long way to go to make up for a decade of underfunding SUNY, as well as to have enough full-time faculty to accommodate enrollment growth. Adding funding for faculty this year will help us continue making SUNY a great university system,” Scheuerman said.

Lawmakers express support

UUP’s message resonated among the lawmakers who addressed the 300 participants congregated in The Well of the Legislative Office Building. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno drew a standing ovation in recognition of his continuous support of the union’s legislative priorities.

“We recognize the importance of higher education,” Bruno said. “In a global economy, you are role models and help people be the best they can be. There’s no better investment we can make in our budget than to support higher education in this state.”

Following Bruno, new Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith also pledged his support for higher education.

Several other prominent lawmakers spoke, including Sen. Kenneth LaValle. The chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee drew cheers when he said there will be a chance to say no to privatizing the SUNY hospitals.

“We really cherish the work done at SUNY hospitals and the health science centers,” he said.

LaValle added that all SUNY state-operated campuses had done positive things with the additional funds included in the current state budget, and he followed that up with an optimistic prediction.

“I think you can be sure that we will build on last year’s investment and we’ll keep moving forward,” he said.

Another high-ranking legislator, Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky — the ranking minority member of the Senate Higher Education Committee — echoed the need to hire more full-time faculty. She said there had been a slowdown in state support for SUNY over the years.

“Every dollar we invest in SUNY comes back eight-fold,” she said. Stavisky also called for the rejection of any attempt to privatize the state-operated hospitals.

“We need to pay more attention to the health care needs of people in this state,” she said.

As the lawmakers’ speeches concluded, Scheuerman noted that, “Every speaker said the same thing — that we need more full-time faculty. We need to expand that support to achieve our goals in the new state budget.”

— Donald Feldstein