{"id":227,"date":"2019-06-12T21:32:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T21:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/?p=227"},"modified":"2019-12-09T21:05:50","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T21:05:50","slug":"preliminary-budget-outcomes-for-the-2019-legislative-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/government\/2019\/06\/12\/preliminary-budget-outcomes-for-the-2019-legislative-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Preliminary Budget Outcomes of the 2019 Legislative Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

This update provides a summary of the 2019-21 budget for the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, including the seven public universities, approved by the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education during its June 11th<\/sup> meeting. For the Legislative Fiscal Office Report, click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Operational Funds \u2013 the Public University Support Fund<\/strong><\/p>\n

In November, despite a recommended 25% increase from the Governor-appointed Higher Education Coordination Commission (HECC), Governor Brown proposed a $736.9 million budget for Oregon\u2019s public universities \u2013 essentially flat funding universities at the 2017-19 level. In a supplemental budget, she proposed a $120\u00a0million increase (16.3%) hinged on the expectation that the legislature would approve a $2\u00a0billion tax increase, a portion of which would be dedicated to higher education.<\/p>\n

The universities indicated that a $120\u00a0million increase would enable all but one of the seven institutions to meet mandatory cost increases while keeping tuition increases below 5% each year for the next two years. (SOU indicated that even with the $120\u00a0million increase, it would not be able to keep tuition increases below 5%.)<\/p>\n

Legislators opposed using any of the $2.7\u00a0billion in corporate tax increases they passed to support higher education. In March, the Tri-chairs of the Joint Ways & Means Committee proposed a $40.5\u00a0million increase (5.5%) for university operating budgets, based on the state-defined continuing service level. Following two months of lobbying and subcommittee hearings, the Education Subcommittee approved a $100\u00a0million increase (13.6%), for a total of $836.9\u00a0million in operating funds for the 2019-21 biennium. This increase would currently enable at least three universities to keep tuition increases below 5%, though many would still face significant budget reductions. OSU estimates taking over $8\u00a0million in spending reductions over the next year. The HECC will consider tuition increases at those institutions with proposals higher than 5% at a June 13 meeting<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Statewide Public Service Programs <\/strong><\/p>\n

OSU sought a $30\u00a0million increase (24%) over a base budget of $124.4\u00a0million for the Statewide Public Service Programs \u2013 Extension Service, Agricultural Experiment Station and Forest Research Laboratory. This increase included a $14.6\u00a0million increase to meet \u201ccurrent service levels\u201d and to recover past budget reductions. The remaining $15.4\u00a0million would enable new strategic initiatives across the three programs.<\/p>\n

The current legislative budget allocates a $14.0\u00a0million increase (11.3%) to the Statewides, with no funding allocated to new initiatives. A preliminary version of the budget showed a $2.0\u00a0million increase for a new fire resilience program implemented by the Extension Service, but the appropriation appears to have been eliminated over the last week. It may yet reappear in an end-of-session budget bill.<\/p>\n

State Programs <\/strong><\/p>\n

After the tri-chairs threatened to reduce and\/or eliminate some State Programs at each of the seven universities, the current appropriation bill includes increases of 5.5% to maintain state-defined current service levels. This funding category includes the following OSU-based programs:<\/p>\n