Members of the Kansas Board of Regents have approved the higher education budget request they’ll send to the Legislature.
The main priorities are to avoid any additional budget cuts and restore the $30 million cut to higher ed put in place earlier this year. The proposal also asks lawmakers for $20 million more for maintenance projects. Regent Joe Bain says they wanted to offer a realistic request.
“We also have to look at reality and look at the revenue picture as it is and understand that we’ve got to prioritize things and make a pitch for the things that are most important, which is to maintain and not getting more cuts,” Bain says.
Zoe Newton, chair of the Board of Regents, says they kept in mind the state’s tight budget.
“But we also feel like we need to put out there what it is that we feel we need as a system and then it’s really up to the legislators and the governor to make those priority decisions,” Newton says.
There are also additional targeted funding requests from the universities. They include money for a new University of Kansas medical education building in Wichita and the initial investment for a new dental school at the KU campus in Kansas City.
