Officials continue lobbying efforts in Harrisburg

With serious budget negotiations just around the corner in Harrisburg, the University is continuing an intense lobbying campaign aimed at persuading state lawmakers to restore the University's $37.6 million state appropriation. "I think [the lobbying effort] is receiving an increased shot in the arm," said Nicholas Constan, assistant to President Sheldon Hackney. "People are being asked to write letters. A lot of the effort is strong and it is highly important." University officials have been trying to rally supporters since February, when Gov. Robert Casey proposed a budget that would eliminate all funding for the University and other private colleges in the state. But crunch time is approaching. Once the legislature returns from this week's holiday, observers say, lawmakers will move quickly to pass a final budget and avoid last year's protracted struggle to reach a spending agreement. University officials have repeatedly urged the University's supporters to write letters to legislators emphasizing how much the University and the surrounding community could be hurt by drastic cuts in state aid. As evidence that such demonstrations of support can make a difference, the officials point to the University's success last year at helping convince the legislature to restore more than $18 million in proposed state cuts. James Shada, the University's chief lobbyist in Harrisburg, said this week that the letter-writing campaign has produced some results. He said "a number" of legislators told him they had received letters from University alumni, faculty and staff. But despite the campaign's high visibility, University officials realize that it will take more than letters to keep Harrisburg's pursestrings pried open. Two legislative proposals already released -- one by House Democrats and another by Senate Republicans -- show that the University clearly faces an uphill battle in its quest for a restoration of state funding. The plan sponsored by Senate Republicans would provide $33.8 million -- about 90 percent of last year's level -- to all areas now receiving state money, including the general instruction line item that helps fund financial aid. The House Democratic plan, which passed the House last week and now moves to the Senate, would eliminate all funding for the University -- except for about $12.6 million for "veterinary education, research and outreach." Shada said the House bill "troubles" University officials because, besides the cuts, it does not specifically state that the $12.6 million will go to the Vet School. That part of the bill does not even mention the Vet School or the University by name. "On the other hand, having the $12.6 million somewhere is better than having nothing anywhere," Shada said. "It is a major step forward and we are pleased to see that step. It's a good start." To heighten the intensity of the lobbying drive, Shada said, University administrators have joined forces with other higher education institutions that are also facing a reduction or elimination of their state funding. He said Executive Vice President Marna Whittington spent last Tuesday at a reception where she and representatives from other institutions tried to highlight for lawmakers the continuing need for state support. Besides Whittington, Shada and University lobbyist Paul Cribbens, several other University administrators are also spending a lot of time in Harrisburg these days. Vet School Dean Edwin Andrews makes a weekly trip down the capitol's corridors to drum up support for the school, Shada said. Of all the areas of the University, the Vet School -- which relies on state funding for 40 percent of its annual operating budget -- needs help from the state most. The key for the University is to convince lawmakers, many of whose constituencies live several hundred miles from West Philadelphia, that they should apportion scarce state resources to an institution widely perceived to be rolling in money. Shada said he tailors each of his attempts at persuasion to fit that legislator's profile. For example, with lawmakers from the five-county Philadelphia area, he said he might stress the University's impact on the region's economy in terms of jobs and services. But when speaking to a lawmaker representing Erie County in the state's northwestern corner, he said he might focus less on the direct economic impact of the University and more on research and education. Research done at the University on such maladies as the avian flu and salmonella can help demonstrate the far-reaching effects of work done on campus for the rest of the state, especially its large agricultural region, he said. He added that the Medical Center's advanced organ transplant capabilities provide training, in addition to care, for people from distant parts of the state. But, ironically, one of the University's hardest sells may include convincing lawmakers from its own backyard. Several state representatives from Philadelphia said the University's stance in dispute over the Mayor's Scholarships has made it difficult for them to lobby as actively for the University as they have in past years. The seven-month-old dispute centers around the number of scholarships the University is required to provide Philadelphians in return for almost 47 acres of rent-free city land the University received decades ago.

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