by Christian Wade
Connecticut’s public university system is facing the prospect of layoffs and deep cuts under the state budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which could also prompt tuition and fee hikes for students.
According to Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Terrence Cheng, who announced on Monday the public college system would be forced to eliminate more than 3,600 full and part-time jobs — including 654 layoffs — under the two-year, $51 billion spending plan being considered by state lawmakers.
“The proposed state budget would harm students, the state’s workforce, and communities,” Cheng said in a statement. “Our students are Connecticut residents, and they stay here to live and work. This would all be at risk without adequate state funding.”
Cheng said the budget, as currently proposed, would require the university system to increase tuition at community colleges by 5% per year for the next two years and a 5% increase at the universities for the next academic year.
He said it would also mean eliminating high-subsidy programs, most of which meet the state’s greatest workforce needs.
Last week, the Legislature’s Democratic-led Appropriations Committee released its version of the state budget, calling for boosting spending in the next fiscal year by an estimated $400 million over Gov. Ned Lamont’s preliminary budget, filed in February.
The spending plan falls $109 million short of funds needed to maintain CSCU’s services in the first fiscal year and $225 million below in the second, according to Cheng, which represent spending gaps of 10% and 20%, respectively.
Overall, the state budget would leave CSCU with a projected $335.1 million deficit over the two-year budget period, Cheng said.
Legislative leaders have noted a state spending cap keeps budget expenditures in line with changes in personal income, or inflation means that some programs won’t see significant increases in spending in the next fiscal year. At the same time, some agencies could be forced to make cuts.
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, and House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, issued a joint statement saying they will be seeking to “bolster funding” for higher education and other priorities in the final budget, “while still protecting the fiscal health of the state and providing residents with historic tax relief.”
To be sure, Lamont’s preliminary spending plan would have cut an additional $82.5 million from the higher education budget.
“We understand the need for fiscal restraint,” Cheng said. “But it should never come at the expense of opportunity for our most disadvantaged students – especially at a time when our state’s resources are more than sufficient to address students’ needs.”
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Christian Wade is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Ned Lamont” by Office of Governor Ned Lamont. Background Photo “College Students” by Stanley Morales.
