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News Highlights

Stimulus to lighten burden

Timeline, comparison chart, questions considered

Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009

By Cynthia King, WSU Today


 
 
Employee uncertainty in the face of looming budget reductions received empathy from the president and provost at Tuesday’s noon budget forum. But providing premature details of potential cuts, that might allay the anxiety of some, would undoubtedly foster fear in others, they said.

“We don’t want to unnecessarily alarm people,” President Elson S. Floyd told the somber crowd of mostly WSU employees. “That would be cruel, and I won’t do it.”

He did offer to include talking points in his next Perspectives column for employee use in making the case for higher education to the Legislature and said he would be grateful for those efforts.

A second budget forum was scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday in the CUB auditorium.

The president laid out a broad timeline of how the remaining budget process would unfold. Key approximate dates are as follows:
 
 
 
 
Provost Warwick Bayly then explained a chart (see above) comparing the proposed budgets from the governor, the Senate and House. After figuring in tuition increases and federal economic stimulus funds, the proposed reductions to WSU are:

• Governor, 6 percent
• Senate, 12 percent
• House, 18 percent

These will be hammered out in conference committee in the next month.

Questions at the forum concerned:

• Breakdown of budget reductions
• Notifying students over the summer about how cuts would affect them
• Whether furloughs still are under consideration
• How many employees are taking advantage of the voluntary early retirement incentive

A videostream of the budget forum will be available later this week at www.experience.wsu.edu.



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