Faculty and Staff

2010-11 State Budget Issues

On January 19, 2010, Governor Paterson released his Executive Budget for the 2010-2011 state fiscal year. Certainly some higher education programs were cut, as were some smaller NYSTAR programs, but on the whole the budget was not as severe for higher ed as we had feared. Please see our budget chart for specific allocations to programs of interest to SU and higher education. (The proposed funding for each program is in the green column.)

Bright spots:

• Say Yes - proposed funding of $350,000
• Centers of Excellence operating funds remained unchanged at $6,934,000 ($1.156M for Syracuse CoE)
• Centers for Advanced Technology (CATs; SU's CAT is the CASE Center) funding unchanged at $13.82M
• Connective Corridor. $10M reappropriated in Upstate City by City Fund. (Second $10M amount contained in a larger appropriation which GCR is working to locate.)

New programs:

• "Innovation Economy Matching Grants". Through a competitive grant process, the State would offer up to $100M in matching grants for institutions receiving ARRA research funds.
• New Technology Seed Fund. $2M to assist university-based entrepreneurs make transition from pure research to the creation of marketable products that create revenue.

Of concern:

• Access programs. The Executive Budget keeps in place the mid-year (2009) cuts to Bundy Aid, HEOP, STEP/CSTEP, and Liberty Partnerships Programs.
• TAP. The Governor is using "higher education savings actions" to close budget gaps. TAP awards will be reduced by $75 each, and a variety of eligibility changes will be implemented. The actual amount of "savings" is not clear at this time but will be spread over 2010-11 and 2011-2012.
• NYSTAR Faculty Development. Cut from $2.69M to $751,000.
• NYSTAR Incentive Program. Cut from $2.92M to $870,000.

Other budget actions:

In addition, Gov. Paterson's proposal contains many other cost-saving initiatives to combat our continuing economic challenges. They include:

• 1) The Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act. This sweeping reform would give SUNY and CUNY the flexibility and autonomy necessary to become “centers of job creation.” Tuition rates would be set in a “rational” and predictable manner. SUNY and CUNY would be able to manage more of their own affairs.
• 2) He has proposed a spending cap which, if enacted, would generate $1B in surplus in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. This surplus would be returned to taxpayers in the form of a progressive circuit-breaker tax credit. The spending cap would limit growth in the State Operating Funds budget to the average rate of inflation from the past three calendar years.
• 3) Merging agencies. Among other mergers, the Executive Budget proposes merging the Empire State Development Corporation and the Department of Economic Development into a new Job Development Corporation.