“As we are going to enter this General Assembly session, I would say the mood on the budget is uncertainty and apprehension,” PVCC President Frank Friedman told the college’s board on January 6, saying it is unclear what budget priorities Governor-elect Bob McDonnell will put forth.
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PVCC President Frank Friedman says that the mood on the budget is one of “uncertainty and apprehension.” Amid new possible budget cuts, Friedman says that for the first time since becoming president at PVCC, “we are receiving this year less than $3,000 per full-time equivalent student in state funds,” he told the college board. “When I arrived in ’99, 78 percent came from the state. We are now at 44 percent.” |
In December, Governor Tim Kaine released the proposed budget for 2010-2012 and announced that he plans to cut $2.3 billion from state programs. Amid reductions to several state agencies, Kaine called for 664 layoffs for state employees that would affect the Virginia Department of Transportation, Juvenile Justice, Behavioral Health and UVA.
Furthermore, Friedman said that because the stimulus money for this year is a “temporary infusion” of funds—PVCC will receive $1 million—“that’s slated to be gone in two years. So, if nothing were to change other than the fact that we’ll lose that money in two years, that’s about a 7 percent budget cut just like that.”
In the past year, PVCC, along with other higher ed institutions in the state, was asked to reduce its budget three times. The last cut of 6.9 percent, or $580,000 (originally 13 percent, but it was offset by stimulus dollars), was announced this past summer.
But chances are slim that nothing will change.
According to Kaine’s proposed budget, there would likely be no additional, or only minor cuts this year, but the second year of the biennium would be a completely different scenario. Friedman estimates that PVCC could face “very significant” cuts—as much as 10 or 15 percent.
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One of the areas of concern, said Friedman, is that in his proposal, Kaine increased “sources of revenue”—e.g. taxes—to the state, “and that is why there were no immediate cuts this year, for the first year of the biennium,” he says. However, McDonnell has already said that he does not support the measure. “If you don’t bring those revenue enhancements in, there will be more [cuts] that need to be made in spending, and usually, when that’s the case, higher ed takes a hit,” said Friedman.
Also alarming is the decline in state funding per student.
“For the first time since I’ve been at PVCC, since 1999, we are receiving this year less than $3,000 per full-time equivalent student in state funds,” he said. In 2006, the state contributed approximately $4,000 per student.
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