October 13, 2003

By Matt Kelly

Local legislators agreed on several points at a student-sponsored forum held in the Newcomb Hall Theater Wednesday night, including that state higher education funding will remain lean in the coming legislative session.

"We can’t raise taxes for U.Va. when kindergarten through 12th grade education is not funded," said Del. Robert B. Bell, R-58th District.

The six delegates and one state senator who attended the forum touted the benefits of research in the state’s universities and spoke of how important education is to the state economy. But they did not promise students more state support in the short run, noting they may face a $1 billion budget shortfall when the General Assembly convenes in January.

The University has raised tuition and fees in the face of $52.2 million in state funding cuts between 2001 and 2004. This represents a 31 percent reduction in the University’s general fund appropriation.

The forum, sponsored by the Student Council’s Legislative Affairs Committee, drew a crowd that filled three-quarters of the theater. Committee members said they wanted to make it an annual event.

Bell and Del. R. Steven Landes, R-25th District warned students that legislators without universities in their districts are not always sympathetic to higher-education issues.

Bell said there is a perpetual debate in Richmond about whether there should be a publicly funded elite institution of higher education such as U.Va., and if so, who pays for it — all of the taxpayers or just the people who use it? He said the students who have come to his office have said they would rather pay more in tuition.

By a show of hands, Bell gave the students in the theater a choice of raising taxes, raising tuition or letting the University absorb budget cuts. About a third voted for tuition increases and a third voted for tax increases. No one supported letting the University absorb more budget cuts.

Higher education absorbed 40 percent of all state agency cuts, said Del. L. Preston Bryant Jr., R-23rd District.

The legislators praised research as a growth area for the state’s schools.

Virginia needs to be among the top five states for research, said Del. Thomas Davis Rust, R-86th District, a theme that was picked up by several legislators. Landes said economic growth and job development would come from entrepreneurs using the ideas that come from research within the state. Virginia has two universities, U.Va. and Virginia Tech, among the top 50 research institutions in the country.

"Any state that doesn’t invest in higher education and its young people is bound to fail," said Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-25th District. He stressed that the state had no choice but to make the investment. "We need a system for everybody. The basic responsibility for higher education is woven into the fabric of our economic health."

He cited North Carolina, which he said is putting more money in higher education than Virginia.
"We have to look at the impact of education on everybody who pays taxes," he said. "We all win when we invest in education."

Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-78th District, said legislators need to look at how the state can get the best education for the money. An engineer, he said the state needs to consider redundancies and ask if some institutions are trying to offer too much.

"You have to ask, ‘Are we being the best stewards of the money for the taxpayer?’" he said. "We have to look at every school to see how they are using their resources. Does everybody need the same offerings? Do we need 10 engineering schools or can we get by with six and put the extra money into research?"

There would never be enough money to cover all the demands for education spending in the state, he said, noting his priority is funding K-12 education.

Bryant cited a need to update the tax code, which was put in place when the state’s economy was based on agriculture and manufacturing. The economy, he said, is now driven by research and development and financial services. There have been several studies of the tax structure, in several administrations, he said, but nothing has been done.

"There will be winners and losers [of any tax code change]," Bryant predicted. "But there are winners and losers now."

Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, D-57th District, predicted that nothing would be done with the tax code, particularly in an election year, because everyone was afraid to touch it. In this year’s session, Van Yahres proposed raising taxes, specifically hiking the cigarette tax by 60 cents a pack and eliminating the car tax exemption, but he said these measures went nowhere. Tuition hikes are a tax increase on the users of the University, but he said there needs to be diversity in the student population, so increases in student financial aid must accompany tuition hikes.
Bryant said Virginia schools are still a bargain for out-of-state students, especially when compared to what other states’ schools would cost Virginia students.

Several legislators praised the state’s community college system, as well as distance learning programs. Landes predicted widespread use of distance learning in the next 10 to 20 years, making classrooms accessible to students who could not be there in person.

Cosgrove cautioned, though, that a student at a computer terminal would not have access to the personal interaction that is integral to a university education.

Legislators should also be planning for the future, Landes said. His plans include boosting faculty salaries to the 60th percentile of peer institutions and pushing Virginia into the top five research states. But he said the legislators all have to work together on it.

"The economy will turn around and we need to be in agreement that we are headed in the right direction for the future," Landes said.