Iowa

rurallib

(63,324 posts) Wed Aug 16, 2017, 10:49 AM Aug 2017

REYNOLDS BUDGET MISMANAGEMENT LEADING TO 41% TUITION INCREASE

https://iowastartingline.com/2017/08/16/reynolds-budget-mismanagement-leading-41-tuition-increase/comment-page-1/#comment-3848

Governor Reynolds said Tuesday that Iowa families can’t afford that large an increase. However, she took no responsibility for her budget that created this funding crisis for Iowa’s Universities. Let’s remember, it was the current Governor Reynolds, then Lt. Governor, that stood at Branstad’s side and said nothing as Iowa education funding was decimated by the Republican controlled Legislature.

On Tuesday Reynolds refused to give any guidance to either the Regents or Legislature on finding additional funding. Reynolds said the Regents should “work through the process” and said, “the Legislature is going to do what the Legislature is going to do.”

Iowans expect their Governor to lead. Reynolds should be directing the Regents and the Legislature with specific recommendations. Apparently, she is content to leave the state on autopilot and let others should solve her budget mess.

The Board of Regents’ Task Force was formed as a result of the Legislature’s decision to cut $30 million from the budget of our three state universities. The Task Force will take recommendations and will report back to the full board in September. The Regents plan to vote on their tuition recommendations in December.

The individual universities made it clear why they need this huge increase in tuition. The $30 million cuts have put Iowa’s three state universities in peril.

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Iowa Republican legislators were clear about their priorities and higher education wasn’t one of them. The House-Senate education budget subcommittee voted 8-5 along party lines to advance the education budget that dictated these massive cuts. Republican Representative Cecil Dolecheck, co-chair of the committee, was candid about the Republican’s dismissal of the importance of education funding.

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