PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano told the state Legislature Monday that education is her "first priority" and showed her commitment to higher education with a proposal to double state financial aid funding.
In her State of the State address, Napolitano also said she would be asking the Arizona Board of Regents to increase funding for state universities that increase the number of students who graduate "in a reasonable time."
"Our universities have a responsibility to make sure their students graduate - particularly in the fields of nursing, teaching and engineering," Napolitano said.
Regent Jack Jewett said the governor's financial aid proposals were an important element in higher education and suspected they were tied to the redesign of the state university system.
He said he thinks Napolitano is pledging state support for financial aid because higher education is not getting what it asks for financially from the state Legislature. Jewett brought up the $1,000 tuition increase in 2003 for state residents, citing the large portion of the increase that contributed directly to financial aid the same year.
"The state contribution is not huge," Jewett said.
Education was the first issue she covered in the speech. Napolitano said it is important that education change with the economy.
"Education is our most vital mission," the governor said to applause from the audience.
Napolitano spoke to the state about the need for more medical professionals and the universities' roles in the response to that need.
"It won't surprise anyone that there is a shortage of health care professionals in Arizona. We need more doctors and nurses," Napolitano said. "This year we are already educating more nurses at our colleges and working to keep the ones we already have."
Napolitano said the state universities are working together and bridging rivalries, as progress toward the new medical school in Phoenix continues. She proposed that the second phase of the development of the medical school be primarily financial.
The first part of the financial development of the school would be to fund the first class at the school, Napolitano said. Students are slated to start at the school in 2006.
"For phase two, I propose that we establish our own state Medical Center Savings Account, so that as plans are completed, we have the financial wherewithal for a truly world-class medical center," Napolitano said.
"If we do this, we will improve the quality of life for all Arizonans and leave a legacy for generations to come," she said.
Though many anticipated more from the governor regarding water issues for the state, she mentioned the universities' role in anticipated drought issues this year.
"With our three state universities, we are creating a virtual water university to demonstrate to the world how to sustain vibrant communities in a desert environment," she said.
While urging communities across the state to work to make conservation plans, she also said the Legislature needs to better monitor water conditions, and said the state must pay attention to its precious water resource, the Colorado River.
"We must continue to fight to make sure that Arizona gets its fair share of water from the Colorado River," Napolitano said.
Herb Guenther, director of the Department of Water Resources, said this means fighting to keep the share of Colorado River water Arizona already gets, because the continued drought the western part of the country brings up the issue again.
He said when a drought hits this region, the upper Colorado River states (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico) start vying for more water, and the lower states (California, Arizona and Nevada) have to fight to keep the water they already get.