Texas Governor Vetoes $570M in Spending from Proposed Budget; Slashes University Funding

Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed off on the state’s budget, but not before making substantial use of his line-item veto. Overall, the approved $151 billion FY 2008-2009 budget increases general revenue spending by $7.7 billion (11.8 percent) over the current biennium. Much of that new spending will support education in the state; however, a number of programs, particularly those connected to higher education, failed to receive the governor’s approval.

 

In all, Gov. Perry vetoed nearly $200 million in higher education spending. The largest of the cuts resulted from the governor’s decision to end group health insurance for faculty at the state’s community colleges. The veto is the result of a long-standing argument over whether or not the state should bear the financial responsibility for these benefits, according to a recent Austin-American Statesman article. The governor charged that many community colleges had inappropriately inflated their budget requests to receive funding for costs that should be covered by local taxes and tuition.

 

Gov. Perry characterized about $36 million in additional cuts as necessary to trim funding for “pet pork projects” at the state’s institutions of higher education. These cuts include a total of $12 million intended for life science and medical research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the UT Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio, and the UT Medical Branch at Galveston. The funding would have supported research into diabetes, obesity and public health. The governor said the cuts were necessary to prevent overlap of research programs at the state's various universities and that a long-range plan for statewide university research was needed before larger investments could take place.

 

The governor also eliminated funding for a proposed pilot program to track and improve student performance from high school through college and into the labor market. In his proclamation, Gov. Perry argued that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board should be able to cover the cost of the program within its existing budget.

 

This year’s legislative session, however, was not entirely disappointing for the higher education community. Earlier this month, Perry signed off on a bill to authorize funding for a $300 million Cancer Prevention and Research Institute and additional cancer research around the state. That measure, which is dependent on a constitutional amendment, will be put to Texas voters in November. The referendum would authorize a total of $3 billion in general obligation bonds for cancer research to be issued in grants between 2010 and 2020.



Perry also fulfilled a pledge made in his February State of the State address to create a new pilot program to increase the number of engineering and computer sciences graduates in the state (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the Digest). The TEXAS Technology Grant program will provide grants to engineering and computer science students, particularly those from underrepresented demographics and those that demonstrate financial need. The budget increases the biennial allocation for the existing TEXAS Grants program by $96.2 million to fund these new awards.

 

Gov. Perry’s announcement on the budget is available at: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/pressreleases/PressRelease.2007-06-15.5254