t’s been a more than a year since the U.S. fell into a recession, eight months since everyone started to notice, two months since congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and four weeks since Gov. Bev Perdue submitted her state budget proposal. The University started cutting departmental budgets in September and continued to do so in October, December, early February, and again in late February.
So where does that leave the people of this country? State? University? Here’s a look from the top down.
American Recovery and Reinvestment act, better knows as the stimulus package:
Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus plan
-$288 billion is in tax benefits
-$499 billion is in appropriations for federal agencies, states, etc.
Some things the act has been doing:
-As of Monday, 2,000 transportation projects had been funded by the act.
-Thursday, the Treasury announced more than 64 million $250 payments to benefits recipients.
-The Census Bureau received $1 billion for job creation and the 2010 census
-In early April, $5 billion was allocated to assist needy families
-The energy secretary announced $6 billion will be used for environmental cleanup
Something the act hasn’t done yet:
-Given the $144 billion in state and local money for the prevention of health and education budget cuts and tax increases
Recovery claims:
– The act will save or create 105,000 jobs in North Carolina
- Citizens will be able to track every dollar spent, at some point
– Seven million students will see decreased college costs due to increased Pell Grants
N.C. State Budget
Perdue’s Plan:
– Attempts to cover $3.4 billion deficit in $21 billion budget for next fiscal year
– Raises taxes on alcohol and cigarettes
– Increased spending in schools
– Cutting about 250 state employees
What that plan relies on:
– $6.1 billion in stimulus money from the Federal government to help plug spending holes in Medicaid, transportation projects, energy programs, public education and higher education
Changes the Senate made:
– Proposed a $20.05 billion state budget, cutting $950 million.
– Increased class sizes in grades K-12
– Planned to lay off about 700 state employees
– Retained a Department of Labor apprenticeship program that Perdue cut
– Largest cuts were in Health and Human Services and Justice and Public Safety
What the House says:
– The N.C. House will not take any steps on the budget until April 20 after the state Revenue Department has calculated its income tax numbers
University Budget
Losing Money
– After budgets saw up to 7 percent reductions for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the University started off the 2009-2011 years asking its departments to prepare scenarios for 3, 5 and 7 percent reductions. Since the state budget hasn’t yet been passed, the University doesn’t know how much to plan on cutting yet.
– In addition to the 7 percent cuts, the Office of the State Budget and Management informed the University and other state agencies to restrict hiring, travel, purchasing and salary adjustments.
Finding money
– Endowment funds have suffered because of the economy, leaving some scholarships and fellowships unpaid. The Chancellor allocated $820,000 in special funding to help cover those promises in early March. However, that dollar amount is not enough.
– The University has 15 projects planned that will be funded through the stimulus package. Projects include research on greenhouse gas reduction, creation of clean diesel financial programs and autism research among other areas.
