Bill allocates $302M to 'U' with restrictions

On June 20, Governor John Engler signed a $1.5 billion budget for higher education and financial aid for the state's fifteen public colleges and universities, allocating $302 million to the University for next year, an increase of 4.6 percent next year.

The budget marks a 5.5-percent increase from the current year's higher education budget. It is the largest budget increase for the University in ten years, according to Walter Harrison, vice president for University Relations.

"We're really pleased by the allocation," Harrison said. "It will be very, very good for students. It probably means the lowest tuition increase in ten years."

"This budget reaffirms my commitment to Michigan's world class system of higher education," Engler said in a written statement.

Even though the budget increases the higher education allocation, the language at the end of the bill, in the "boiler plate," places restrictions on higher education funding. It penalizes universities for making medical benefits available to same-sex partners of its employees and for funding abortions. The budget deducts an amount from the University's allocation equal to the amount the University spends on coverage for unmarried partners of its employees and the amount it spends on funding abortions.

Harrison said the University offers coverage only to umarried gay and lesbian partners of University employees, and not to hetrosexual umarried partners. He also said the University keeps no record of abortion funding that may be provided through the University's several health care plans.

"We're studying the boiler plate very carefully," Harrison said. "It's not really clear what the full impact of that might be."

Associate Vice President for University Relations Lisa Baker said the University spends about $160,000 of its $300 million benefit budget each year on benfits for umarried partners of its employees and retirees.

Harrison said the bill does not make any provisions for the reporting of the abortion information. He said implementation of such monitoring would be fairly complicated.

Harrison said the constitutionality of the boiler plate is in question.

State Senators Alma Wheeler-Smith (D-Salem Township) and Joseph Young (D-Detroit) have written a letter to the state attorney general, asking him to address the constitutionality of the bill.

"It is unconstitutional," Smith said. "It seeks to direct the University on how it might spend the dollars it is appropriated."

Smith said she has been in contact with both the University and Wayne State University, the first state university to request action by the attorney general in the case. A decision by the attorney general would circumvent costly legal processes for the individual universities, Smith said.

"If we can save the universities from having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars protecting their constitutional autonomy, we would certainly like to do this," Smith said.

Smith said she expects a favorable response from the attorney general's office by the end of the year.

The budget also includes a capital outlay project valued at $63 million for the University. This measure has not yet been approved by the state legislature.

- Daily Editor in Chief Laurie Mayk contributed to this report.

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