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Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, ordered midyear budget cuts for higher education institutions despite projections that the state will have a surplus of $1.6 billion at the end of the fiscal year in June, the CT Mirror reported.
The cuts—which will impact the University of Connecticut, the state’s four regional universities, its community colleges and the online Charter Oak State College—total $8 million. That’s the equivalent of just 1 percent of the institutions’ state block grants for the fiscal year, but experts say it would still be a damaging loss.
The announcement is a reversal of Lamont’s previous pledge to spare public colleges and universities from efficiency cuts. State officials said the cuts were necessary given projections that government spending will shatter approved limits by nearly $400 million this fiscal year. But fellow Democrats in the General Assembly and union leaders say the cuts are unreasonable, pointing to the projected surplus that quadruples the estimated spending problem.
More than half of the spending problem is tied to Medicaid, not higher education.
The past two years have seen tense negotiations over state budgets and concern from state system administrators who say budget deficits for higher ed are significant as COVID relief funds dry up. So this midyear slash, combined with the news that there’s only $22.7 million left in relief plan funding instead of the anticipated $40 million, could be a prelude to more budget cuts in the year to come.
CSCU vice chancellor Adam Joseph noted that the system has already mitigated a more than $100 million shortfall in its budget, but nonetheless told the Mirror, “We are committed to working with state leaders to ensure that the Connecticut State College and University System has predictable funding and the financial resources it needs to benefit our students.”
