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 28, 2009

Legislative session concludes

This past weekend, the Iowa General Assembly finished up business and adjourned at roughly six o'clock on Sunday morning. With significant decreases in tax revenue and other funding streams, almost all programs had their budget's cut this year.

UNI was cut by more than 12 percent, in excess of $14 million, from last year's appropriated amount. Special legislative initiatives at the university, such as the economic development programs and the Iowa Math and Science Education Partnership, were cut between seven and ten percent from last years allocation.

Although we are expecting significant amounts of money from the federal stimulus package that will help offset some of the burden of the budget cuts, it is important to understand that the federal stimulus money is one-time money. In other words, without a significant turnaround in the Iowa economy, the 2010 legislative session looks extremely bleak and there will be no federal stimulus money to fill in the gaps.

The Governor has yet to sign any of the major appropriations bill that were past last weekend and has approximately 30 more days to review the legislation before he signs. The education appropriations bill will probably be one of the last bills he signs given the immense size and scope of the legislation. Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for all your grassroots support this session!