UNI Legislative Update
The Office of Governmental Relations provides legislative updates to the campus community through online communication and bimonthly campus presentations. These updates will inform faculty, staff and students of hot topics facing the legislature and legislative actions affecting UNI and the Regents institutions.
April 21, 2008
Budget negotiations on going
It is common practice during the last few weeks of session for the Governor's Office, Appropriations chairs from the House and Senate, and the majority leaders to get together to discuss the final budget. The Governor laid out his budget proposals at the end of January that included $4.7 million for the Regents Math & Science Initiative. The legislative leadership also released their own budget recommendations and priorities that sometimes differ from the Governor. As a result of the differing opinions as to where to spend the money, the two sides are currently meeting to negotiate a budget that both sides feel comfortable supporting.
According to sources within the knowledge of the process, the two sides are close at reaching an agreement and we can only hope that that agreement will include funding for UNI's top priorities-- adequate funding for salaries and of course, the Math & Science Initiative.
During the bill signing for the RDDD School on Friday afternoon, Governor Culver was asked about the budget meetings with the legislative branch and what was hopeful for. Governor Culver responded by saying that the Math & Science Initiative (sometimes referred to as STEM, Science - Technology - Engineering - Mathematics) was at the, "top of the list of things that need to be funded."
This is great news for UNI and the Regents to have Governor Culver come out so strongly in favor of the Initiative, but we mustn't take our eye off the prize and take it for granted.
The final week of session is here and we need to solidify support in the Legislature to ensure that it will be funded. The Governor can say that he wants it funded a hundred times, and we thank him for his strong support, but the Legislature controls the purse. Please keep up the communication with your elected officials this week to stress the importance of quality teachers in math and science and increased performance in math and science among our students!