PHOENIX ÷ President Pete Likins riled members of the House Committee on Appropriations yesterday by calling legislators' proposed cuts to the university bad policy and saying they amounted to a tax increase for students.

He used some of the strongest language toward the Legislature about the budget in his more than five years as president, leading some lawmakers to respond that they aren't out to harm the universities per se, as the state looks for places to cut $1.3 billion.

"This body has been cutting our university budgets while telling the voters that their need for quality education will somehow be met and somehow Arizona will develop a high-tech economy with good jobs," Likins read from a statement he prepared.

"This state should have invested in the universities in the prosperous 90s, when other states were doing so. We should be investing now, rather than cutting university budgets."

"We inherited this problem. The finger pointing isn't necessary," said House Appropriations Chairman Russell K. Pearce, (R-Mesa). "The lowest tuition in the nation has been in your hands."

The Arizona Board of Regents, not Likins, sets tuition.

"We are not the enemy," said Rep. Bill Konopnicki, (R-Safford).

Republican lawmakers in control of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee have proposed cutting $15.8 million from the UA budget before July 1 and $3.6 million more in July. This does not include an estimated $10.1 million in employee healthcare and

retirement costs that could become the responsibility of the UA, instead of the state, next year.

However, the cuts will likely drop substantially before being enacted, UA lobbyist Greg Fahey wrote in a document released yesterday. Few legislators have voiced support for those proposals, and Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano's proposal protects the universities from cuts.

"The Governor has staked out her claim to an essentially no more cuts position, while the only legislative answer is that of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Chairmen who tell a tale of continuing woe ÷ steep additional reductions to the universities," Fahey wrote. "But the Chairmen's recommendation has been called a starting point by the majority leadership as well as the JLBC Chairmen themselves ÷ no one in the legislature has rallied Īround it."

The proposed cuts are a tax on students' education because all of the additional $13.9 million generated by a $1,000 tuition increase for in-state students next fall would go toward offsetting budget cuts from last year and next, Likins said.

Likins said it isn't likely that the UA will see a $15.8 million cut before July 1. Two factors play into this. First, the Republicans are divided on the university budgets, because the budgets released so far are those of the Appropriations chairmen. Secondly, Napolitano's proposal doesn't take any money from the university this year, and she has repeatedly said that she will not support such a cut.

Of the proposed cuts, Republican lawmakers included a $1 million take back of state funds because they're relying on a tuition increase to fill the gap.

"When I see evidence in this budget proposal to make a raid on tuition, implementing a (tax on education), I am appalled," Likins told the committee.

Pearce said he wouldn't call it a tax.

Other legislative budget proposals include stripping state funds from the James E. Rogers College of Law and nurse-recruiting programs, as well as cutting $2.5 million in funds to the UA for each of the estimated 600 students who have more than 140 units.

Napolitano has proposed to increase funding for the university and Arizona Health Sciences Center by almost $180,000.

Arizona Board of Regents President Jack Jewett, Northern Arizona University President John Haeger and Arizona State University President Michael Crow also spoke, but no one else prompted the responses Likins received.

The presentation was a success in a committee divided about what to advise on university funding, Likins said. He plans to deliver the same address to the Senate Committee on Appropriations when he speaks to them today.

Rep. John Huppenthal, (R-Chandler) said he doesn't like cutting programs and watching the heads of various agencies plead daily for the money to keep their programs alive, but that he's forced to make tough choices.

Likins said he didn't like firing his staff and professors, and that in the long run, the state would feel the economic impact of cutting a university that provides at least double the return on the investment.

Likins also said lawmakers were making college less affordable by proposing to cut $1.1 million, or half the matching funding the state provides to the financial aid system.

And regardless of what the legislators propose, Likins said he could not cut $15.8 million of the UA and Arizona Health Sciences budget between now and July 1. Most of the budget is payroll for employees.

He couldn't give them notice and fire them fast enough, even if he started right away, and he wouldn't do it, he told lawmakers. He'd borrow the money to cover the debt first.

Part of the problem several legislators noted was that the UA and other university budgets were too big a part of the unprotected state budget to avoid cuts as the state looks to reduce its budget by about one-seventh.

The state-funded portion of the UA's budget shrank by $10.5 million after last year's cuts. The UA's total budget is $893 million, of which the state provides about 34 percent. The Arizona Legislature's budget for next year is projected to be between $6.1 billion and $6.7 billion.

Jeff Sklar contributed to this report.