By Julia Yetter
The University of Louisville came one step closer to realizing its financial fate on April 2, as the Kentucky General Assembly passed its state budget. The budget cuts funding for higher education by three percent and failed to increase any taxes, including the heavily debated cigarette tax.
The Senate voted down the 25 cent increase in the state’s cigarette tax that was passed in the house budget last month. The house projected the increased tax would generate around $292 million for the state, a portion of which had been designated to funding higher education.
As U of L contemplates its financial future, students are left to ponder what might have been, had the tax increase been passed.
“I would have supported the tax increase and I’m a smoker,” freshman history major Laura Elisabeth said. “Cigarettes are still relatively cheap, but tuition just seems to keep going up.”
According to John Drees, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for U of L, the university was supportive of the new revenue streams, but accepts that it will have to make do with what it has been given.
“The university is still working out some issues regarding these cuts,” Drees said. “This has been a very tough session with many tough decisions. No one is happy about the cuts to higher education funding, but it is better than we felt back in January.”
House Democrat Harry Moberly was less reserved in his criticism toward the budget. Moberly, who voted against the budget, was quoted recently in The Courier-Journal telling reporters that “this is bad budget for education… really bad.”
Gov. Steve Beshear expressed his own dissatisfaction toward the budget, threatening to call a special session in order to address issues of revenue. Beshear was quoted in The Courier-Journal as stating the Senate’s refusal to approve any new revenue “is really going to hurt the people of this commonwealth for the next two years.”
Some in the university community share Beshear’s frustration. Dr. Phil Laemmle, a retired political science professor at U of L, stressed the need for the state to find new sources of revenue.
“Some legislators are trapped in a no new taxes mentality,” Laemmle said. “Kentucky is a very conservative state and people as a whole haven’t really thought through the consequences of no new taxes.”
State Auditor Crit Luallen addressed some of the consequences higher education is undergoing as a result of budget cuts over a period of years. Luallen found in a recent report that Kentucky residential tuition has risen 83 percent since the fall of 2001, compared with 35 percent nationally.
Luallen’s report rated higher education attainment for Kentucky’s citizens as “the single biggest challenge facing the commonwealth.” Luallen’s report recommended tuition reductions should be considered and need-based financial aid increased.
Some students agree with Luallen’s recommendations.
“A tuition reduction instead of an increase… I wish that would happen,” said Natasha Grider, a graduate art student.
