The allocation of the governor’s budget will be the focus of the Illinois Board of Higher Education meeting Tuesday.

NIU President John La Tourette will attend the meeting at Illinois State University in Normal to debate the $122 million allocated by the IBHE for NIU’s operations during Fiscal Year 1992. The IBHE had originally sought $131 million.

Still, the recommended amount for next year is 1.2 percent higher than this year’s budget.

Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves will attend the meeting to discuss the $241 million the entire Regency system will receive under the IBHE allocation, an increase of 1.5 percent from last year. The Regency system consists of NIU, ISU and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

The allocation is not final because the budget will be debated extensively both at Tuesday’s IBHE meeting and in the state legislature.

The education budget is also based on the reapproval of the temporary income tax surcharge by the state legislature after it expires in June.

Gov. Jim Edgar has said if the surcharge is not reapproved, $100 million might need to be slashed from the total education budget of $1.6 billion next year.

The budget is also based on approval of a five percent tuition increase, not yet enacted by the Regents.

Funding is also included for program expansion of the NIU Law School. The funds will come from an increase in the tuition of professional schools.

Other items on the agenda include the IBHE financial report and a report on the implementation of policies on undergraduate education.