Today the Higher Education Conference Committee (combined committee of select House and Senate legislators) will meet and decide how much money our higher education institutions will receive in state funding. The Committee’s deliberations may last for days but we must contact those committee members as soon as possible.
What’s at stake?
- In the House the MnSCU system is provided $105 million towards its $142 million goal.
- In the House the University of Minnesota is provided no (zero) additional monies towards its $95 million goal.
- In the Senate the MnSCU system is provided $60 million towards its $142 million goal. Furthermore, the Senate position includes language regarding performance funding. We are concerned with this strategy, and any strategy that potentially reduces college and university budgets, especially at a time when campuses are already experiencing financial distress.
- In the Senate the University of Minnesota is provided with $85 million towards its $95 million goal.
As you can see for yourself, the House and Senate are extremely sporadic and exceptionally divided regarding Minnesota’s higher education priorities. However, Governor Mark Dayton has recommended to the State Legislature to fully fund the MnSCU system’s budget request as well as fully funding the University of Minnesota’s budget request.
Please understand that if the MnSCU system and the University of Minnesota fall short on their budget requests that union members will have challenges during contract negotiations with wages and benefits. The monies that the Higher Ed intuitions are requesting are directly tied to wage and benefit increase for faculty and staff.
Please contact the Conference Committee members now and ask them to support Governor Dayton’s position. Also, share this information with your coworkers!
