State Senate, House pass 19 percent cut to Pitt’s funding

Pitt will receive almost a fifth less state funding this year, unless the governor vetoes the… Pitt will receive almost a fifth less state funding this year, unless the governor vetoes the bill.

The two halves of the state legislature passed the University’s appropriation Tuesday, with 19 percent less funding than last year. Both chambers have separate bills and one needs to be decided on and signed by Gov. Tom Corbett by June 30, but both bills state the same thing: Pitt will receive $136 million in state-appropriated funding.

This is down from the $168 million it received in state funding this past year.

Paul Supowitz, a Pitt government-relations official, said that it would be inappropriate to comment on what the funding cut means for Pitt, specifically what it means for the rise in in-state tuition.

“It’s been such a process, with such twists and turns,” Supowitz said.

The House vote came after a reversal by Democrats blocked the bill’s passage Monday. The representatives had disputed the cuts for state-related universities, but Democrats eventually voted to pass the bill.

G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, explained what made the Democrats reconsider the bill within a few hours.

“Democrats wanted to increase the funding, but the Republicans made it clear that it was 19 percent or nothing, and this left Democrats in an unusual position,” Madonna said. “If they didn’t provide the two-thirds vote, then the schools would get nothing.”

Lisa Scullin, a spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said that Senate Democrats have been pushing to try and restore funding to the state-related universities. They introduced a number of amendments to the state budget earlier in the week to try and increase funding to Pitt, but Scullin said the increases were shot down by Republicans in a party-line vote.

Democrats were seeking more funding for state-related universities because the universities are the “economic engines in the cities where they are located,” Scullin said.

“The key thing is trying to educate our workforce, trying to make Pennsylvania competitive in the global marketplace,” Scullin said. “And to do that, we need a highly educated workforce.”

The Senate appropriation for Pitt passed unanimously. The House bill passed with 179 votes of a possible 203.

Pitt, as a “non-preferred” institution, has its annual appropriation considered separate from the state budget.

Pennsylvania provides some support to four state-related universities  —  Pitt, Temple University, Penn State University and Lincoln University  —  in exchange for lower tuition for in-state students.

Sen. Jake Corman, the Senate Appropriations chair, said that the final 19 percent cut was a fair compromise between the original proposals from the two legislative chambers and the governor, and is far better than Corbett’s original 54 percent cuts.

“It still backs our commitment to higher education,” Corman, R-Centre, said. “But it clearly puts the university in a more difficult state than it was in the past. Obviously universities will have to decide how to best handle the reduction.”

Eric Shirk, a spokesman for Corbett, said that he cannot comment on the proposed 19 percent funding cut to Pitt since nothing has been decided yet. But he said that the budget will absolutely be passed by the June 30 deadline.