NIU administrators and leaders will keep watch on the governor’s budget proposal for higher education during the next few weeks as it moves through the final stages of the legislative process.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proposed an additional $40 million in funding for operations for Illinois higher education for Fiscal Year 2007. NIU’s share of the increased funding would be around $1.2 million for FY 2007.

What additional funding means

“The lion’s share — most of this money — is going to be directed toward a much-needed salary increase for faculty and staff,” said President John Peters. “That will have a direct and indirect benefit on students. It permits us to retain our quality faculty and staff who are so focused on student success.”

In the past four years, NIU has lost about $45 million in state-appropriated money and increased health-care costs, Peters said.

“This budget … is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t begin to cover the lost base budget that we’ve had,” he said.

If the General Assembly approves the budget as proposed, it would be the first time since FY 2001 NIU receives an increase in state funding.

“All the university presidents in Illinois have expressed support,” said Barb Vella, chairwoman of the NIU Board of Trustees. “Everyone’s on the same page and agrees with [Blagojevich] and I think we have a good chance of actually turning the corner, because we’ve had about four or five years of being in the hole.”

Hopes for increases in funding

Capital funding goes toward repairs and maintenance of institutional buildings such as classrooms, along with infrastructure such as roads. The budget proposes about $82 million for capital funds, which is then split into deferred maintenance and individual projects at various universities. This funding does not cover residence halls.

“The one thing we continue to lobby on from my office is to try and get more capital money,” said Ken Zehnder, assistant director of External Affairs and Economic Development.

Zehnder works in government and external relations to support the president’s agenda, he said.

“For maintenance, we have a lot of large projects. Buildings need repairs; campus structures, parking lots and other areas need attention,” Zehnder said. “There is generally an assigned sum. It’s based on the number of students and some other factors for who gets the money.”

NIU’s top priority with capital funding is the renovation of Stevens Building, which houses the theater and anthropology departments, Zehnder said.

“The project there is to totally renovate [the hall] and expand it,” he said, adding NIU has taken state officials through Stevens to show them problem areas.

“We have been without [capital funding] for a couple years and we have had to use internal funds to try to take care of things,” he said. “We are encouraging the governor to return to that practice of appropriating deferred maintenance money.”

Support and discontent

While Peters said the budget is a step in the right direction, State Rep. Robert Pritchard is unhappy with the level of funding proposed.

“It’s not enough,” Pritchard said. “I’ve been opposing his underfunding since I’ve been in Springfield. He has underfunded NIU by $40 million. Now he throws us a bone and we’re supposed to be happy?”

Pritchard said he is not sure the budget will pass as proposed because it has a long way to go.

“The budget is very sketchy,” he said. “Normally a budget has line items, gets a blanket approval and the governor spends it the way he wants.”

Lobbying Day

NIU administrators and leaders will continue to push for more funding. Some of this will take place on lobbying day, March 15.

“Sometimes large groups are effective, but small groups focus on key legislators and that can be very effective too,” Zehnder said. “I’m down here practically every week working with the legislators.”

Also, a house appropriation hearing will take place in Chicago March 9, and the committee will hear the university’s request for funding.

This year during education lobby days, state university employees and retirees will be encouraged to join the State University Annuitant Association and come to Springfield to lobby on behalf of pensions, Rubin said.

Pensions

Cuts in funding may affect pensions as well.

“I think [Blagojevich] is also going to continue under-funding pensions and that is totally irresponsible,” Pritchard said. “The governor is a credit-card addict. When he said we have a balanced budget people just laughed at him. With higher education we must consider the pension system for faculty.”

Pensions for faculty and staff of NIU reside in a fund called SURS, the State University Retirement System.

“The faculty and staff have put in their required share each year, but the state of Illinois has not,” said retired professor Irene Rubin.

In 1994, the state passed a law requiring the state to put in its share and make up past underfunding.

“The only trouble was that instead of making the payments even from year to year, they ‘end loaded’ it,” Rubin said. “They gave themselves only small increments in the first few years, and steeply increased payments in later years.”

By the time those larger payments were due, the state was in a recession, revenues had dropped, medical costs to the state had skyrocketed and pensions were underfunded again, she said.

“Next year’s budget — not the one presently presented, but the one after it — is going to be a crisis for the pension funds,” Rubin said.