U. of I. employees are being asked to apply full-court advocacy to state legislators grappling with the myriad issues involved in the annual appropriations process.
The U. of I. Alumni Association’s Illinois Connection group recently sent a campus notice asking employees to contact legislators before March 19, when appropriations hearings on the university’s fiscal 2016 budget allocation are held in the Illinois House and Senate.
The legislative session is scheduled to run through May.
Employees have until May 31, the end of the legislative session, to contact elected leaders. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
At issue is a budget proposal submitted by new Gov. Bruce Rauner in February that called for a 31.5 percent cut in higher education funding – which would reduce the U. of I.’s direct state support by a historic $209 million.
The fiscal challenges confronting the state are substantial – a backlog of payments due totaling nearly $6 billion; an unfunded public pension obligation of more than $100 billion; and a nearly $1.6 billion deficit in the current fiscal year.
It leaves the governor and lawmakers balancing the state’s priorities while debating the appropriate mix of budget cuts and revenue enhancements.
“We’re asking employees to remind legislators of the benefits the university brings to the state and that supporting the U. of I. benefits all state residents,” said Jennifer Creasey, the university’s interim director for state relations.
For example, for each dollar the university receives in direct appropriations, the university leverages more than $4 in non-state funding.
“Between the three campuses, the U. of I. touches a lot of lives in this state,” she said. “We want employees to show how such a drastic cut could affect them, their families and communities. It could go a long way in communicating the true value of our impact.”
Officials in the university’s Office of Ethics and Compliance have indicated the law allows employees to advocate on behalf of the university.
Employees are allowed to contact legislators by phone or email during work hours using university phones or computer equipment, they said, though the best practice is to make their pitches during a break using a personal phone.
They also said employees should not participate in this activity while at work if it will significantly interfere with their ability to perform their job effectively. The process does not represent a prohibited political activity, and it is not forbidden by the State Officials Employee Ethics Act.
U. of I. President Bob Easter said the proposed cuts are substantial and he and incoming President Timothy L. Killeen have spent much of the year lobbying leaders in Springfield for a less austere option. University officials will continue to be involved in budget discussions in Springfield this spring to make the case for full financial support.
“A massive cut in direct state support will diminish the academic experience for 78,500 students and will ripple through the university in a way that damages its competitiveness,” Easter said.
But he said that doesn’t mean there are not areas where the university could become more efficient.
“The U. of I. has a role in helping to address the fiscal crisis,” he said, “We must continue to find ways to operate more efficiently and effectively, across the campuses and in administration. We have to continually learn to do more with less.”
