Kentucky's university and college presidents met Wednesday evening with Governor Matt Bevin and state legislators to discuss the budget impasse. The main roadblock between the House and Senate is the proposed funding cuts to higher education.
EKU President Michael Benson says while he doesn't disagree with the governor's prioritization of addressing the state's pension debts, he does believe education should also be a priority. “The governor has talked a lot about expanding our tax base. And I would argue the best way to do that is to invest in opportunities for education,” Benson says.
In a campus wide email, Benson said after nearly three hours of discussion, debate, and deliberation, he’s slightly more hopeful that a budget agreement might be reached by elected officials over the next few days.
Benson and the presidents spent more than three hours at the governor's mansion. “Like you have as many legislators up there, you also have that many priorities. Politics is the science and the art of who gets how much when,” he says.
He says higher education funding was a bargaining chip when he presided over a college in Utah. and so it remains in Kentucky. “So happens this year that it’s a really big chip. And it’s one that’s kind of, the analogy we use is kind of the ping pong ball getting knocked back and forth.”
Governor Bevin has prioritized paying down Kentucky's underfunded pensions with across-the-board cuts to most all state agencies, including higher education. Negotiations between the House and Senate hit a wall over a nine percent reduction to higher ed over the next two years, in addition to current year cuts.
The House wants the funds restored, while the Senate, siding with the governor, wants that money for the state's pensions. The final day of the 2016 legislative session is set for next Tuesday.
