By SUSAN JONES
This time last year, Pitt officials were scrambling to get the message across to state lawmakers that all funding that the University gets from the state goes toward lowering tuition for Pennsylvania students, while some lawmakers were challenging funding for all four of the state-related universities.
This year, the rhetoric over hot-button issues like diversity initiatives and critical race theory has been dialed back a bit, but there’s still a month left until the official deadline for the budget to pass on June 30.
“We are in an important time,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said at the May 18 Senate Council meeting. “We are in the part of the year where the intensity of the effort begins to pick up.”
He urged the Pitt community to step up and let elected officials know how vital the state funding is, particularly for in-state students. The state funding represents about $16,000 in annual savings for in-state students
“I think we’ve made a good case that this is money that goes to students. I now hear the other state-related universities making that same case,” Gallagher said.
The dynamics in Harrisburg are a bit of an unknown, with a new governor — Democrat Josh Shapiro — taking over this past January. Shapiro, in his first budget address to the Pennsylvania legislature in March, proposed a 7.1 percent increase in funding for the four state-related universities — Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln. Pitt had asked for a 6 percent increase in the budget request it submitted last fall.
In addition, the House majority has been up in the air through most of this year, delaying many normal activities. Democrats won a one-seat majority in last fall’s election, giving the party control of the House for the first time in 12 years. But then three Democratic House members resigned, giving Republicans a majority. Democrats won special elections for those three seats in February, again putting Democrats in charge. And in May, two more special elections were split between the two parties, leaving the House in Democratic control.
David Brown, Pitt’s vice chancellor for government relations and advocacy, said they “expect lots of activity over the next few weeks as policymakers debate and negotiate proposals.” The situation changes almost daily, he said.
“The governor’s suggested increase is a positive step, but the General Assembly must pass a bill appropriating those funds,” Brown said. “In fact, bills that provide funding for Pitt and the other state-related universities like Penn State require a two-thirds super majority in the General Assembly to pass. That vote is necessary to protect the in-state tuition discount for University of Pittsburgh students.”
Brown also urged the Pitt community to keep advocating for Pennsylvania students and families.
“There are no guarantees that the state will continue providing this funding,” he said. “So, it’s always critical that the General Assembly know how important Pitt is to their constituents and Pennsylvania. We’ve set up a web form to make reaching elected officials easy. It takes just seconds, and you don’t even have to know who your representatives are.”
Last year, Pitt requested a 5.5 percent increase, after receiving flat funding over the previous two years. Former Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal for 2022-23 contained a 5 percent increase for the state-related schools. After extended and sometimes rancorous negotiations, the legislature ultimately gave no increases to the schools. Wolf then used money that lawmakers appropriated to the governor’s office for “pandemic response” to give the state-related schools a one-time payment that equaled 5 percent of the amount passed by the legislature — an additional $7.5 million in Pitt’s case.
Shapiro’s proposal would bring the general support appropriation for Pitt to $162.26 million and funding for rural education outreach to $3.84 million. While these numbers are a 7.1 percent increase over what the legislature appropriated last year, they are only a 2 percent hike from what Pitt eventually received.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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