About the education budget in the state senate last night. Seems to me that they could raise ticket prices at Alabama and Auburn football games by $20 each and make up the difference.
The state's major education budget appeared headed to collapse in Senate late Monday evening in a dispute over college funding.
After a marathon filibuster that lasted from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday, a vote to end a bruising debate between senators aligned with K-12 schools and senators speaking for four-year colleges over funding failed by a vote of 17-14. It takes an affirmative vote by at least 18 senators to break a filibuster on the budget.
Continued debate appeared ready to run out the clock on the session. Education officials warned that without a budget, some systems would begin laying employees off.
The filibuster pushed most other bills aside, including one to remove state taxes on the federal stimulus checks. Local legislation of interest, particularly a public smoking ban sponsored by state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, did not appear likely to pass as the session approached a midnight deadline.
There were suggestions from some Senate leaders that Gov. Bob Riley could call a special session at midnight to continue the debate, but a spokesman for Riley said late Monday evening he did not expect that to happen.
Senators seeking to reverse cuts to four-year colleges filibustered the $6.3 billion budget for 12 hours Monday, saying colleges and universities facing $151 million in cuts were bearing too much of the burden of the $367 million in reductions in the proposed 2009 budget.
The universities sought an additional $25 million, saying the cuts would leave the state at a competitive disadvantage with other states.
The Legislature approved the $2 billion General Fund budget, which pays for most non-educational services, on May 6. The governor had not signed the General Fund budget as of Monday.
Senate leadership declined to add $25 million to the budget, citing the fiscal straits of the education budget, and even dared the senators to kill it.
"I'm going to give them a chance to kill it," said state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, hours before Monday night's vote. "If they want to kill it, we'll let them kill it."
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, was slowed by Republicans who were unhappy no GOP legislation was considered for a vote Monday, and black Democrats protesting the defeat of a proposal to remove the state sales tax from groceries.
Several other pieces of local legislation, including bills dealing with commercial gill nets and coastal insurance, passed the Legislature last week.
Sanders said earlier the $25 million sought by universities would break the bottom line of an education budget that Sanders said was already threatened with proration.
"My feeling is that if there's proration at all, and I'm not convinced we'll be in proration, but if we are, I do not believe a one-third of one percent increase will break the camel's back," said state Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn.
The $6.3 billion education budget, which goes into effect on October 1, cuts funding for K-12 schools and colleges by $367 million, with K-12 schools ($119 million) and individual colleges bearing the brunt of the cuts.
Education in the state is paid for out of the Education Trust Fund, which derives about three-quarters of its funding from income and sales taxes. The taxes are sensitive to the economy, and revenue grew only 3 percent in the first three months of the year. The slower growth means less money for schools.
Even before the filibuster, senators sounded unenthusiastic about the final document, which generally follows Gov. Bob Riley's budget proposal in February and reflects fiscal projections from his office. The Legislative Fiscal Office, a non-partisan organization that studies budget issues, estimated that the governor's cuts were short by $121 million.
But Sanders said he not only expected the budget to go into proration but to force a special session later in the year -- a reason, Sanders said, that no additional money should be added to the budget.
"We made a political decision rather than a financial decision," Sanders said. "If we were making a fiscal decision, we would have cut another $121 million. The $370 million we have already cut was so painful we made a political decision not to impose more pain."
The University of South Alabama will see a cut of about $16 million.
"These are huge, huge cuts," said Happy Fulford, a lobbyist for the University of South Alabama. "It would seem logical to me that you'd see a tuition increase to cover costs."
But without a budget, Alabama state School Superintendent Joe Morton said school districts would be forced to start laying off non-tenured teachers Thursday.
"It won't be a couple of firings, it will be massive," Morton said. "With no budget they'll have to hedge their bets, and they'll have to let them go."
After the vote, State Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said it was a "sad, sad day.
"It's sad that we're sending our teachers to Mississippi and Georgia to maintain employment," Ross said.
Riley arrived at the State House late Monday afternoon and met with Senate leaders, AEA executive secretary Paul Hubbert and Joe Fine, a lobbyist representing the colleges. Riley did not make himself available for comment after those meetings.
After a marathon filibuster that lasted from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday, a vote to end a bruising debate between senators aligned with K-12 schools and senators speaking for four-year colleges over funding failed by a vote of 17-14. It takes an affirmative vote by at least 18 senators to break a filibuster on the budget.
Continued debate appeared ready to run out the clock on the session. Education officials warned that without a budget, some systems would begin laying employees off.
The filibuster pushed most other bills aside, including one to remove state taxes on the federal stimulus checks. Local legislation of interest, particularly a public smoking ban sponsored by state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, did not appear likely to pass as the session approached a midnight deadline.
There were suggestions from some Senate leaders that Gov. Bob Riley could call a special session at midnight to continue the debate, but a spokesman for Riley said late Monday evening he did not expect that to happen.
Senators seeking to reverse cuts to four-year colleges filibustered the $6.3 billion budget for 12 hours Monday, saying colleges and universities facing $151 million in cuts were bearing too much of the burden of the $367 million in reductions in the proposed 2009 budget.
The universities sought an additional $25 million, saying the cuts would leave the state at a competitive disadvantage with other states.
The Legislature approved the $2 billion General Fund budget, which pays for most non-educational services, on May 6. The governor had not signed the General Fund budget as of Monday.
Senate leadership declined to add $25 million to the budget, citing the fiscal straits of the education budget, and even dared the senators to kill it.
"I'm going to give them a chance to kill it," said state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, hours before Monday night's vote. "If they want to kill it, we'll let them kill it."
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, was slowed by Republicans who were unhappy no GOP legislation was considered for a vote Monday, and black Democrats protesting the defeat of a proposal to remove the state sales tax from groceries.
Several other pieces of local legislation, including bills dealing with commercial gill nets and coastal insurance, passed the Legislature last week.
Sanders said earlier the $25 million sought by universities would break the bottom line of an education budget that Sanders said was already threatened with proration.
"My feeling is that if there's proration at all, and I'm not convinced we'll be in proration, but if we are, I do not believe a one-third of one percent increase will break the camel's back," said state Sen. Ted Little, D-Auburn.
The $6.3 billion education budget, which goes into effect on October 1, cuts funding for K-12 schools and colleges by $367 million, with K-12 schools ($119 million) and individual colleges bearing the brunt of the cuts.
Education in the state is paid for out of the Education Trust Fund, which derives about three-quarters of its funding from income and sales taxes. The taxes are sensitive to the economy, and revenue grew only 3 percent in the first three months of the year. The slower growth means less money for schools.
Even before the filibuster, senators sounded unenthusiastic about the final document, which generally follows Gov. Bob Riley's budget proposal in February and reflects fiscal projections from his office. The Legislative Fiscal Office, a non-partisan organization that studies budget issues, estimated that the governor's cuts were short by $121 million.
But Sanders said he not only expected the budget to go into proration but to force a special session later in the year -- a reason, Sanders said, that no additional money should be added to the budget.
"We made a political decision rather than a financial decision," Sanders said. "If we were making a fiscal decision, we would have cut another $121 million. The $370 million we have already cut was so painful we made a political decision not to impose more pain."
The University of South Alabama will see a cut of about $16 million.
"These are huge, huge cuts," said Happy Fulford, a lobbyist for the University of South Alabama. "It would seem logical to me that you'd see a tuition increase to cover costs."
But without a budget, Alabama state School Superintendent Joe Morton said school districts would be forced to start laying off non-tenured teachers Thursday.
"It won't be a couple of firings, it will be massive," Morton said. "With no budget they'll have to hedge their bets, and they'll have to let them go."
After the vote, State Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said it was a "sad, sad day.
"It's sad that we're sending our teachers to Mississippi and Georgia to maintain employment," Ross said.
Riley arrived at the State House late Monday afternoon and met with Senate leaders, AEA executive secretary Paul Hubbert and Joe Fine, a lobbyist representing the colleges. Riley did not make himself available for comment after those meetings.
Better yet, eliminate Auburn. Who needs that?
ReplyDeleteBut raising ticket prices works too.
I'll volunteer to run the lottery.
ReplyDeleteTeacher contracts are tricky things. Our school board met yesterday and no one was let go. I think our deadline for non-renewal has already passed, as it has in many districts. Saw Joe Morton's apocalyptic letter yesterday.
Our local Senator (Orr) did not vote to close, and if he had, the budget would have been voted on. Our AEA lady would stab him if she could get away with it.
One assumes it would be to my advantage if the Universities do not get $50 million of 'our' money. But I really don't know what's at stake with that spending.
Either way, it is a black eye for us, but is that really surprising?