By
Eric Swedlund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
PHOENIX - With the same basic priorities as the governor's proposal,
yesterday's presentation of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee's
recommendation signals the most promising budget the University of Arizona has seen in recent years.
Top priorities for both Gov. Jane Hull and the Legislature include state employee pay raises, improvements in behavioral health care, education and more officers and vehicles for the Department of Public Safety.
Senate Appropriations Chair Ruth Solomon, D-Tucson, said the universities have suffered in the last few years as the Arizona Legislature and Hull have focused their energies on improving K-12 education.
"The universities should do well," Solomon said.
UA lobbyist Greg Fahey said the biennial budgets proposed at the opening
of the 45th Legislature provides a lot of hope for the university.
"Compared to most of the last 10 years, both recommendations are very
enjoyable documents," Fahey said. "Either way, it's a big improvement."
Fahey said major salary increases and building renewal funds - at 100
percent under the JLBC proposal, after stagnating at 23 percent in each of
the last two years - are the greatest features of both proposals.
Under the JLBC proposal, the UA will receive a 4 percent increase in
general funding from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2002, an increase of
$10.8 million. The JLBC proposal would give the UA $307 million, compared
to the governor's proposal of $300 million.
From fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2003, the UA would receive a 5.6
percent increase under the JLBC, for a total increase of $25.9 million.
The Arizona Health Sciences Center operates under a separate budget, and
would see a 1.2 percent increase in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 under the JLBC proposal.
Despite the promising budget recommendations, Solomon said steps still
need to be made to stem the high faculty turnover.
"We need to pay tenured faculty adequately," she said. "Not only do we
lose them to other states, but the focus on the new economy suffers as well."
Fahey agreed that more funding is needed to retain "critical personnel" and fight the brain drain.
"We obviously want to study it more in detail, but both recommendations
are major improvements over what we've seen in the last few years," Fahey
said. "We've got a long way to go, but I want to emphasize my thanks to
the governor and the JLBC for the nice start."
