Budget update

Its starting to look like we may be facing a much worse situation than we thought only a few weeks ago.

According to the Reno Gazette Journal, the budget that is to be closed this Friday may include a 19% cut for Higher Education (which would amount to greater than a 20% cut for UNLV).

This is because it appears that the state is going to reeive its federal stimulus stabilization funding -- intended to stabilize the level of education funding for K-12 and Higher Ed, but not devote the full portion of this money to Higher Ed that is called for in the original stimulus bill. Instead, the state will seek, and appears to believe it will receive, stimulus money under the so-called "Hawaii Plan" where by the state meets neither the federal government's "maintainance of effort" requirement (ie, funding at 2006 levels) nor the previously reported requirements for a waiver (that the % of the overall state budget going to higher ed not change.)

So we will get neither the 2006 level of funding, which would represent an approximately 11% cut from 2007 levels, nor the same % of funding (17%) that we received in 2007.

Its now expected that the Board of Regents may be preparing to take the first steps towards fiscal exigency at its meeting next Tuesday.

(PS. If you were wondering if faculty would be included in the even steeper salary cuts that the Governor is going to propose, the answer appears to be yes : "Everybody else besides K-12."