Students, officials lobby to restore campus funding

HELENA – April 15 could be a double tax day for Montana college students if the Legislature's $29.5 million cuts to higher education are still on the books when the Board of Regents meets that day, student lobbyists said last week.

But University System officials are keeping mum on just how high tuition might increase or what services might be reduced if the Legislature's cuts to the governor's University system budget become a reality.

Until that meeting, I honestly don't know," said Janelle Booth, a lobbyist for students at all of Montana's public campuses. "We can speak in broad terms about tuition rising, about services being decreased, but I don't know what that would look like."

In broad terms, Booth said, each $1 million the Legislature withholds could mean a 1 percent tuition increase. If students were to shoulder the total cost of that, it would mean double-digit tuition increases for the next two years.

A 10 percent increase, for example, means a $617 bump in Montana State University tuition for a resident undergraduate student.Students, officials lobby to restore

funding for state college campuses

But Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns said she doesn't see the Regents ever adopting a tuition increase of that magnitude.

She also said she still holds the faith that lawmakers will restore what they have taken out, but she admits that it is getting harder to convince students and faculty that the end is near but not here.

Among the disheartened are Booth and fellow student lobbyists Blake Robertson and Michael Dills.

While Stearns and Mick Robinson, the U-system's fiscal affairs officer, say they are working with lawmakers to restore the complete $29.5 million, students said they'd be happy to get back $15 million to cover the costs of the 5,300 new students who have enrolled in the past two years.

Booth said the $15 million represents the essential needs of a University System that's looking to ensure that courses are available for a growing number of students and that the classrooms aren't overcrowded.

Now that the Republican-backed budget bill has passed the House and Senate, Stearns, Robinson, Booth and other U-system lobbyists are planning to plead their case to the committee of House and Senate members that will iron out the differences between the two chambers' versions.

That so-called conference committee has yet to be appointed, but it's likely to include the Republican architects of each chamber's budget strategy, Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, and Rep. Walter McNutt, R-Sidney.

"McNutt and Lewis definitely know what we want," Robertson said. "They know what the $15 million represents to us. At this point, it's just whether or not they believe they have the money. If they do, they'll put it back. If they don't, when they go to conference it will be the same as it was during every stage leading up to that."

University officials are also hoping to secure passage of a $97 million bonding bill, that would authorize the system and other state agencies to sell bond to build some new buildings and remodel others. That authority would only kick in if state revenues increase.

The list includes a new $29 million facility for the University of Montana's College of Technology, $14. 25 million for a science and instruction tech building at Montana State University-Billings, a $7.9 million auto technology center for MSU-Northern, $4.45 million to remodel UM-Western's main hall, $2.5 million to renovate classrooms at MSU and $4 million for an agricultural and trades building at MSU-Great Falls' College of Technology.

HELENA – April 15 could be a double tax day for Montana college students if the Legislature's $29.5 million cuts to higher education are still on the books when the Board of Regents meets that day, student lobbyists said last week.

But University System officials are keeping mum on just how high tuition might increase or what services might be reduced if the Legislature's cuts to the governor's University system budget become a reality.

Until that meeting, I honestly don't know," said Janelle Booth, a lobbyist for students at all of Montana's public campuses. "We can speak in broad terms about tuition rising, about services being decreased, but I don't know what that would look like."

In broad terms, Booth said, each $1 million the Legislature withholds could mean a 1 percent tuition increase. If students were to shoulder the total cost of that, it would mean double-digit tuition increases for the next two years.

A 10 percent increase, for example, means a $617 bump in Montana State University tuition for a resident undergraduate student.Students, officials lobby to restore

funding for state college campuses

But Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns said she doesn't see the Regents ever adopting a tuition increase of that magnitude.

She also said she still holds the faith that lawmakers will restore what they have taken out, but she admits that it is getting harder to convince students and faculty that the end is near but not here.

Among the disheartened are Booth and fellow student lobbyists Blake Robertson and Michael Dills.

While Stearns and Mick Robinson, the U-system's fiscal affairs officer, say they are working with lawmakers to restore the complete $29.5 million, students said they'd be happy to get back $15 million to cover the costs of the 5,300 new students who have enrolled in the past two years.

Booth said the $15 million represents the essential needs of a University System that's looking to ensure that courses are available for a growing number of students and that the classrooms aren't overcrowded.

Now that the Republican-backed budget bill has passed the House and Senate, Stearns, Robinson, Booth and other U-system lobbyists are planning to plead their case to the committee of House and Senate members that will iron out the differences between the two chambers' versions.

That so-called conference committee has yet to be appointed, but it's likely to include the Republican architects of each chamber's budget strategy, Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, and Rep. Walter McNutt, R-Sidney.

"McNutt and Lewis definitely know what we want," Robertson said. "They know what the $15 million represents to us. At this point, it's just whether or not they believe they have the money. If they do, they'll put it back. If they don't, when they go to conference it will be the same as it was during every stage leading up to that."

University officials are also hoping to secure passage of a $97 million bonding bill, that would authorize the system and other state agencies to sell bond to build some new buildings and remodel others. That authority would only kick in if state revenues increase.

The list includes a new $29 million facility for the University of Montana's College of Technology, $14. 25 million for a science and instruction tech building at Montana State University-Billings, a $7.9 million auto technology center for MSU-Northern, $4.45 million to remodel UM-Western's main hall, $2.5 million to renovate classrooms at MSU and $4 million for an agricultural and trades building at MSU-Great Falls' College of Technology.