Capitol corner: Legislature restores proposed SUNY cuts

State lawmakers at the end of April adopted a two-house, $92.8 billion fiscal plan for 2003-04 that restored the $183.5 million cut to SUNY proposed in the Executive Budget and maintained spending at last year’s level for the University’s state-operated campuses. The Legislature addressed the shortfall by increasing tuition, while reinstatement with state funds would have been preferable, according to UUP.

Nonetheless, relentless advocacy by union leaders and members all session contributed to the legislative restoration. “Our strategy was to focus on the needs of the University, and we needed stability for SUNY and $183.5 million,” said UUP President William Scheuerman.

“We were the one organization that talked about SUNY’s needs,” Scheuerman said.

UUP delegates took advantage of the timing of their 2003 Spring Delegate Assembly — which immediately followed the Legislature’s budget action — and e-mailed hundreds of letters to lawmakers, urging them to override an anticipated gubernatorial veto of their spending plan.

“We need you to remain steadfast in your commitment to funding for SUNY. ... We also request that you ensure that the state-operated campus in your district is able to maintain its academic programs and services next year,” the letter stated.

The Legislature’s plan added about $2 billion in spending — largely for education and health care — as well as personal income and sales tax increases to the Executive Budget proposal. At Voice press time, those budget items the governor might reject remained uncertain. A two-thirds vote from each house — by 100 Assemblymembers and 42 senators — is needed for a legislative override.

Earlier, unionists representing several UUP constituencies kept up relentless pre-budget pressure in Albany. Retirees and active members from the University Colleges of Technology, educational opportunity centers and libraries continued to underscore how chronic underfunding has hurt University programs. They urged legislators to make a full restoration of the proposed cut to SUNY.

UUP librarians emphasized that years of flat budgets and cuts have severely strained library resources, while the demand for technological upgrades has increased.

“The state budget has a big impact on SUNY libraries and library services,” said UUPer Laura Murray of SUNY Central Administration. And the impact affects not only faculty, but also students and community members, many of whom use the campuses’ libraries, she explained.

Activist members also participated in UUP’s district lobbying campaign, which culminated in a massive effort in late April. The drive was designed to deliver to lawmakers — at home — the union’s message that SUNY needs additional state funding to prevent faculty layoffs and restricted University access for students.

Thomas Tucker, chair of UUP’s Political Action Committee, thanked Legislation and Political Action committee members for all their hard work. “Legislators told me that UUPers’ efforts really changed things,” he said.

Meanwhile, the union took its opposition to the Executive Budget proposal to privatize the SUNY teaching hospitals to the streets and into hearing rooms.

UUPers from Upstate Medical University joined Scheuerman and Vice President for Academics Phillip Smith outside the hospital at a mid-April rally to keep SUNY hospitals public.

“If these hospitals are privatized, the state is not dumping the institutions, it’s dumping the population,” Scheuerman said, addressing protesters from UUP, PEF and CSEA. “This is an outrageous proposal and we have to drive a stake through its heart today.”

UUPer Patricia Bentley of SUNY Plattsburgh, outgoing statewide Legislation Committee chair, delivered union testimony on the topic to the University’s Board of Trustees.

“These hospitals provide a lifeline for their communities, offering services many may not otherwise have access to,” Bentley said. “If the responsibility of medical education at our teaching hospitals shifts to corporations, the quality may suffer as concern about a healthy bottom line, not healthy citizens, becomes the main priority.”

UUP’s protests were heard and Scheuerman announced a victory to the union’s delegation. “We stopped the attempt to privatize the hospitals,” he said. “It won’t happen — at least for now.”

Read the Summer Voice online at http://www.uupinfo.org for upcoming SUNY budget updates.

— Lisa Feldman Reich