The 2007-2008 Pennsylvania State Executive Budget passed late Monday night, but Penn State is still waiting to hear just how much will be allotted to the university in the nearly $27.3 billion budget plan.
Penn State Spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz said it is important that Penn State receive specifics of the budget by Friday, when the Penn State Board of Trustees will meet in York to decide the tuition for the upcoming 2007-2008 school year.
"I can't imagine we wouldn't hear before then," she said.
Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Rendell's office, said the budget has a general outline, but not all details, including Penn State's allotment, have been worked out.
"There are 'i's to be dotted and 't's to be crossed," he said. "There is certainly a chance, but there is no guarantee the budget will be advanced by [Friday] ... It'll be difficult."
State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, estimated that Penn State will receive an overall 2 percent increase in funding if the university receives the appropriations for agricultural extension and research passed by the state Senate. If not given that specific funding, Penn State will receive the estimated 1.6 percent increase outlined in Gov. Ed Rendell's original budget proposal.
Penn State President Graham Spanier proposed in February a 6 percent increase in funding from last year's state appropriations total of roughly $327 million, but halved his request in June because of a "tight fiscal environment," Mountz said. Rendell responded with a proposed 1.6 percent increase for this fiscal year.
With the requested 3 percent increase, Penn State would receive $337.53 million, an increase of $9.83 million from last year. With Rendell's proposed 1.6 percent increase, Penn State would receive $332.94 million, an increase of $5.24 million.
Last year, the state approved a 4.5 percent increase in state appropriations, which translated into an about $15.7 million jump in funding from the previous year. The Penn State Board of Trustees subsequently approved a 5.6 percent tuition increase for the 2006-2007 academic year.
Mountz said tuition increases could have been held in the 3.8 to 4.8 percent increase range if the 6 percent increase had panned out.
In late February, Spanier told state legislators that if state appropriations to Penn State's agricultural program are not increased, layoffs in the department may be necessary.
"It would be very problematic," he said in a Feb. 28 Daily Collegian article. "We'd have to lay off employees ... at a time when agriculture remains a very important part of our state's economy."
Mountz said the funding for agricultural extension and research is crucial because it relies totally on appropriation money, not on tuition. The proposed funding would equal about $500,000 for agricultural research and $6 million for agricultural extension.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives originally rejected the increased funding, but Conklin said he's trying to work that funding back into the budget.
"For Penn State especially, the agricultural extension programs, along with research, are very important elements of what Penn State does for the citizens in that area," Conklin said. "But further, everywhere across Pennsylvania and the nation can benefit and are able to use this research. It goes a long way, from keeping tuition lower to keeping jobs in the area."
Don Houser, assistant to state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he expects the budget will be wrapped up by Friday or early Saturday morning. He said he hopes the numbers stay the way they were when the Senate increased funding for agricultural extension and research by about $1.1 million.
"It's a little premature to say now what the final numbers are, but we hope they will reflect what we passed in June," he said.
Conklin said this should all be accomplished quickly.
"The next 72 hours are the most crucial," he said. "Now my job is, along with help from other individuals, to make sure the funding stays in. I'll be reinforcing how important it is to the district and Penn State to have that funding."
