Budget at a glance: Spitzer’s first attempt is a good first step

UUP President Bill Scheurman, right, testifies on the Executive Budget before the Senate Fiance and Assembly Ways and Means committees. NYSUT VP Alan Lubin, left, also testified before the joint committees.

Amid much fanfare and anticipation, Gov. Eliot Spitzer introduced his first state budget Jan. 31. The $120.6 billion Executive Budget drew praise from UUP President William Scheuerman as a good start.

“Gov. Spitzer has taken a great first step in following through on his commitment to public higher education by adding money in his budget to continue strengthening SUNY,” Scheuerman said. “The governor’s proposal increases SUNY’s budget by $143.2 million, including $6 million for new research faculty. These new state dollars will allow SUNY to build on last year’s progress toward correcting years of underfunding.”

Spitzer emphasized the importance of funding education in his budget as it relates to the state’s economic future.

“In the flat world, in the innovation economy, the high-tech economy, whatever you call it, employers will go to those locales where they find a steady stream of good workers,” the governor said during a recent budget briefing.

UUP is pressing for additional funding for SUNY to pay for enrollment growth and new full-time faculty. While thanking lawmakers for additional state funding in last year’s budget, Scheuerman says SUNY needs $25 million in added funds to create up to 350 full-time faculty positions. The union leader made the request in his testimony before a hearing of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees Feb. 8.

“You helped put SUNY on the road to becoming a great university,” Scheuerman said. “We’re on the road, but we still have a ways to go.” Scheuerman told lawmakers the Executive Budget did not recognize the critical financial needs of the three SUNY hospitals, as they face the threat of privatization as suggested by the Berger Commission.

“We want to ensure the SUNY hospitals are protected from the threat of privatization, and we will continue to advocate for the full funding of its public mission,” Scheuerman said. UUP is asking for a $22 million increase in the state subsidy for the hospitals, and $35 million more to begin fixing the hospitals’ annual operating deficits. Scheuerman expressed appreciation to the governor for his proposal to add $2.3 million in funding for Educational Opportunity Centers, $838,000 for the Educational Opportunity Program, and $45,000 for the New York State Theatre Institute.

— Donald Feldstein