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Two months after announcing that he would cut $485 million from state funding for the City University of New York, shifting the cost to the city, Governor Andrew Cuomo now says he will fund CUNY’s entire budget.
“The $1.6 billion in aid it receives has not changed, and will not change under this budget,” Jim Malatras, director of state operations, said in a statement. “The funding stays constant.”
Originally, Cuomo had planned to cut one-third of the budget for CUNY’s senior colleges. Now, Malatras is saying that the proposal was a negotiation tactic, according to The New York Times.
Malatras said that the state will hire a management consultant, who will help cut back administrative overhead. The savings, he said, will go toward students. As long as the Legislature accepts the savings plan, there will be no additional costs.
Meanwhile, CUNY’s faculty haven’t had a raise in six years, and they are in the midst of negotiations. Any suggestion that the budget will be cut or that students will be harmed, Malatras said, “is plainly, factually untrue, and should be considered part of the union’s campaign propaganda.”