Lawmakers give little hope for U. funding

HARRISBURG -- State lawmakers, who may be the University's only chance to retain the University's state appropriation, provided little encouragement yesterday. Gov. Robert Casey's proposal to cut the University's state appropriation is now in the hands of the legislators, who will negotiate with Casey to devise the final budget. While Casey's budget proposal blatantly placed the University out of the state's priorities, it is unclear if a political party or legislative faction will back the University as they have in years past. Casey proposed yesterday to cut all state funding to a dozen private Philadelphia-area colleges and universities that traditionally received state appropriations. The University had requested $41.2 million from the state after being awarded over $37 million from it this year. Senate Appropriations Committee chairperson Richard Tilghman (R-Montgomery) is worried about the University's tenuous fiscal condition, said Robert Bittenbadden, the committee's executive director. "We are very concerned about the University of Pennsylvania," Bittenbadden said yesterday. "The governor's proposed budget essentially abdicates the state's . . . role for education." And Sen. Vincent Fumo (D-Phila.) said yesterday the governor's proposal to cut higher education may harm the state's economy. Fumo, whose son is a 1991 University graduate, said if the state cuts money to private universities and colleges, the school's administrators will then fire workers who in turn will not be spending as much money. "It's the multiplier effect," Fumo said. "It could further fuel the recession." But others in Harrisburg were not as sympathetic to the University's condition. Donald Carroll, the state's secretary of education, said yesterday although the University has always received at least the same amount of funding as the year before, this year the money is not available. "I can tell you from history -- every year I see the money restored to level funding . . . [if] restored to level funding everyone has to understand someone else's ox gets gored," Carroll said. "You can't buy the Mercedes and the sauna if you don't have the money." If Casey's proposal is enacted, it will terminate a centuries-old relationship between the state and the University. The University received its first state appropriation from the state in the early 19th century and has been receiving state funding every year since 1903.

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