The Senate Appropriations Committee amended Senate legislation Wednesday which could provide NIU with a boost of 5.3 percent in state tax dollar support next year.

The committee’s original proposal would have provided NIU with a 4.5 percent increase in general revenue funding for next year. The new amendment, however, must be passed by both houses of the Illinois General Assembly in order to be implemented.

Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves said NIU could stand to gain about $700,000 more than was recommended previously by Senate legislation.

Groves said the amended legislation dedicates the money to faculty pay raises of about 1 percent. The Republican-backed proposal “pulls down some funding from state agencies such as public aid money and reallocates it toward higher education.”

NIU President John La Tourette said he was glad to see the Senate allocate money to faculty and staff pay raises. “They’re recognizing that they haven’t provided any money from state tax dollars for the last two years,” La Tourette said.

He said he was glad to see the Senate try to meet past standards of funding for higher education. He said Gov. Jim Edgar has not supported higher education as strongly as former governor Jim Thompson.

He said the $13 million increase in appropriations for higher education recommended by the Senate committee Wednesday puts the total education increases for next year closer to Thompson’s funding level.

In February, Edgar recommended a 4.5 percent increase in general revenue support to NIU. The Senate legislation contained the same general revenue increase, but Republican senators moved Wednesday to increase the funding. The move could be motivated by Republican concerns about Edgar’s controversial state tax surcharge proposal.

A large portion of Edgar’s budget recommendations relied upon a transfer of state income tax surcharge funds from municipalities to state programs such as higher education.

Republican strongholds, such as Chicago’s suburbs, strongly object to the possibility of losing that source of state funding. As a result, Edgar has lost the support of many senate Republicans.

Consequently, Edgar’s plan, which has virtually no support from Democrats in either house, is even less likely to be accepted without the support of his own Republican party in the Senate. Republicans hold a majority in the Senate while Democrats

control the House of Representatives.

The failure of the surcharge plan could throw a monkey wrench in NIU’s budget machinery. If the plan fails, NIU could experience a sudden shortfall of funds in either a last minute legislative budget reduction or via a mid-year recision.

La Tourette said the $3.6 million increase in general revenue funding for NIU recommended by the governor relies upon the transfer of the surcharge funds.

With an additional $700,000 increase of general funding from other sources, NIU is more likely to get an increase in general revenue if the surcharge plan fails.

In a worst case scenario, NIU could lose the $3.6 million increase if there is no compromise reached between the legislature and the governor on the surcharge issue. This battle could leave NIU and other state agencies with no alternative source of funding.

“Without some kind of tax increase, there are going to be some tremendous pressures to balance the state budget,” La Tourette said.