The following is a message from University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken regarding Initiative 423, a ballot measure aimed at capping state spending.
Dear colleagues,
You are probably aware of ballot Initiative No. 423 (also referred to as the spending lid), which will be on the Nov. 7 general election ballot in Nebraska. According to our legal counsel, as public employees, we are prohibited from using public resources — including a university e-mail account — to advocate support or opposition to a ballot question. On the other hand, I am allowed to provide to you an objective analysis of the potential impact of Initiative 423, and to encourage you to actively express your views as private citizens and to vote.
Our budget office has analyzed the potential impact of Initiative 423 on the University of Nebraska. This information can be found at www.nebraska.edu/423. I urge you to review this and consider its implications. In short, the analysis demonstrates that the proposed spending lid could significantly impact the affordability of higher education, and the ability of the university to continue delivering existing teaching, research and outreach programs to our students and to the people of Nebraska. It could result in sharply higher tuition and reductions in important programs and services.
The budget cuts taken by the university in 2001-03 should give you a good indication of the potential impact of the spending lid. To put that in perspective, those budget cuts totaled about $50 million. The analysis by our budget office shows that if the lid had been put into effect 10 years ago, our appropriation from the state for 2007 would be $134 million less than it is. This amount exceeds the entire share of the university’s state appropriation allocated to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for FY 2007 ($108 million).
There are, of course, many other implications of such a spending lid apart from its impact on higher education. There is debate — and uncertainty, to be sure — about its impact on property taxes, local services such as police and fire departments, K-12 education and more. You should consider the arguments regarding these important issues as well.
Between now and Nov. 7, I encourage you to consider the proposed spending lid, which will become part of our state constitution if approved by the electorate, and to voice your opinion on this initiative through personal contacts, letters to the editor of your local newspaper and other opportunities in your part of the state. There is no issue on the ballot this year that is more important to the future of the University and the State of Nebraska.
Thank you for all you do for the University of Nebraska.
James B. Milliken
President, University of Nebraska