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Preparing for cuts, USF plans to lobby
By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- Bracing for tight budget times ahead, leaders of the University of South Florida met Friday to develop a "road map" for their lobbying efforts in Tallahassee during the special session of the Legislature starting Oct. 22. It is likely to be a bumpy ride. "We're here to come up with a game plan, a road map," said Dick Beard, chairman of the board of trustees. "We want fair treatment with other universities, and we want to make the decisions on how the cuts are going to be made." University officials have estimated this year's shortfall at $10-million and pegged a budget cut next year at $14-million or more. Beard, USF president Judy Genshaft, a handful of trustees on the executive committee, representatives from the regional campuses and staff members met at the St. Petersburg campus for almost two hours. USF wants to make its own cuts, rather than have the budget decisions dictated by officials in Tallahassee. USF also want each university treated equally. Also at issue are student fees and tuition money that exceed projected enrollment. In the past, the state has bankrolled those dollars and distributed the money throughout the unversity system. This year's excess could total as much as $6-million for USF. "We give all the dollars to Tallahassee, and they decide how much they give back," said Carl Carlucci, USF's executive vice president and chief financial officer. "If enrollment goes up, they just take the extra money." "This is money that is already ours," Genshaft said. "We should get to keep it." During the session, legislators will have to deal with a budget shortfall of $1.5-billion, and the university system is one place they will look for significant reductions. A 5 percent reduction by the state's public universities would save about $119-million. Genshaft and the trustees are working on a schedule that would keep at least several of them in Tallahassee during the session. They also plan to work the phones, calling their legislative contacts between now and Oct. 22. "I'm very optimistic," Genshaft said. "I don't have any sense that USF will be treated differently from other universities. But this is a very complicated issue." The university sets out a "road map" of efforts in preparation of the Oct. 22 special legislative session.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
