Weeks of traveling to Albany by UUPers, crowding into elevators packed like sardines, and knocking on the doors of dozens of state lawmakers have paid off for UUP in the form of a positive state budget.
“Last year’s budget that provided $148.8 million in additional funding for SUNY’s state-operated campuses was the best higher education budget in a generation,” said UUP President William Scheuer-man. “This year, we did even better.”
In the flurry of activity that preceded passage of the new state budget April 1, the Legislature added $17.5 million in spending for SUNY. Combine that with the additional $143.2 million included in the Executive Budget, and the overall increase comes to $160.7 million.
But this positive outcome could not have happened without the tireless advocacy of UUP, fueled by the union’s final two advocacy days as the Legislature prepared to enact the final budget.
Nearly two dozen UUPers were among a total of 740 members of NYSUT, UUP’s statewide affiliate, during NYSUT’s Committee of 100 advocacy day.
“This is the first year we’ve had such a large group,” noted NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin. Among their targets: keeping Upstate Medical University in Syracuse part of SUNY, despite the Berger Commis-sion’s recommendation to merge Upstate with neighboring Crouse Hospital under the control of an entity other than SUNY.
“This is part of an ideologically motivated attack by right-wing groups trying to undermine the legitimacy of public education,” said Stephen Allinger, NYSUT’s director of legislation. “NYSUT stands with UUP,” he said, referring to the lawsuit that was filed eight days later.
“We’re worried about the possible death of public hospitals,” Kathy Southerton of Stony Brook HSC told Sen. John Flanagan, adding she was disappointed lawmakers didn’t overturn the Berger Commission report when they had the chance in December.
Political Action Committee Chair Tom Tucker of SUNY Buffalo expressed to Assemblyman Jack Quinn the union’s opposition to the Berger Commission recommendation regarding the SUNY hospitals. “Hopefully this can be fixed,” Tucker said.
Close to two dozen UUP members from around the state descended on Albany for Retiree/Tech Sector/ NYSTI Advocacy Day.
NYSTI Chapter President John Romeo made the most of the opportunity by meeting with state Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari.
“We’re committed to giving kids a little bit of theater culture,” Romeo told Canestrari while asking for funding for NYSTI to accomplish its mission. “We’re the only cultural event some schools get to see.”
Canestrari expressed support for NYSTI, telling Romeo, “You do a great job.”
UUPers also put in their final pitch for additional funding for more full-time faculty during their visits to nearly four dozen lawmakers.
The final budget included up to $10 million to hire as many as 150 more full-time faculty.
“While we hoped for more, these added funds keep the momentum going by enabling SUNY to hire more full-time faculty for the second year in a row,” Scheuerman said. “But our work is far from done. We need to press our efforts next year to help replenish the number of full-time faculty diminished by years of underfunding.”
—Donald Feldstein