Last year, Gov. Frank O'Bannon warned legislators that if they did not address a projected $1.3 billion budget deficit, he would need to cut funding for education.
On Wednesday, O'Bannon's prediction came true.
At a press conference, O'Bannon released a series of proposed cuts he said he wants to implement, including some which would leave Ball State without $3.1 million for technology purchases and $2.85 million for building repairs.
With the $2.85 million gone, according to President Blaine Brownell, Ball State will not be able to make any scheduled repairs, but he said the university does not have a huge amount of projects backlogged.
Though O'Bannon has the power to cut building repair funds, he needs approval of the state's Board of Finance to cut the technology money.
O'Bannon said in a release he will try to meet with the board, of which he is a member, on April 8.
According to the Associated Press, the other board members said they needed time to review the list of state and local projects that would be cut, but both struck conciliatory tones about O'Bannon's request.
"We've been thinking about it for a long time," said Mary Dieter, O'Bannon's press secretary. "This is just following through.
"I think you can expect many more."
O'Bannon has yet to address the possibility of withholding in June the state's monthly funding for universities - a total of $10.4 million for Ball State. Dieter, however, said O'Bannon most likely will, and Ball State expects him to.
"It's definitely in consideration," Dieter said. "I think it's a foregone conclusion."
If this were to happen, Brownell said the university may have to take out a loan to finance its operations until the money was released.
Dieter said it was too premature to speculate on a date when the monthly allotment would be distributed.
Brownell said no decisions have been made about how to make up the funding if it is not repaid. If money for the university's operating budget is not funded by the state, the burden may shift to students and parents.
"If it's not made up, it would be substantial," he said.
Combined, Ball State will lose 18.25 million in funding, said Glenn Augustine, associate director of University Relations.
The possibility of cuts has haunted university officials throughout the legislative session. The cut in technology money, however, is particularly painful, Brownell said.
"This is clearly a blow," he said. "Nobody can cut almost $3 million and not feel it."
The technology money is part of a commitment the state made to universities years ago to help fund technological initiatives.
According to H. O'Neal Smitherman, the vice president of Information Technology and executive assistant to the president, computers and labs were built with the idea that this year's money would be available to repair and upgrade them.
That is no longer the case, Smitherman said.
Now, he said, a number of labs may not receive the upgrades they need, though he would not specify which ones.
"They have begun to outlive their usefulness," Smitherman said. "It affects our planning in all sorts of direction."
The lack of funding could also deter the creation of 50 new electronic classrooms.
It is not yet known, though, if students will feel these costs through less technology, higher fees or in another way. Smitherman said they are looking at different options.
Brownell said he is hoping to maintain the usual timetable for drafting the university's budget, with the Board of Trustees approving a final budget at its July meeting.
Similar cuts have been made to all state universities, totaling $24.5 million for building repairs and $29 million for technology purchases.
O'Bannon's proposals also freeze the implementation of a $1.5 million nanotechnology grant.
Though Dieter said the cuts are all new, the seeds for their birth were planted in spring 2001, when the General Assembly adopted its two-year budget.
Within that budget was an item allowing O'Bannon to make such cuts if the need arose. A similar tactic was used in the 1980s and '90s by both parties, Dieter said.
The item was added to the budget, he said, because of projections that Indiana was heading for troubled times economically.
Though O'Bannon had to make cuts to education as he predicted, some Republicans have argued O'Bannon's premonitions came true only because he wanted them to.
Republicans have argued the state can leave education alone and not leave a hole in the budget. They have released statements in the past three months detailing ways to leave universities' money alone.
Senate Finance Chairman Larry Borst, R-Greenwood, drafted a plan for the legislature that did not address the $1.3 billion shortage.
Borst and other Republicans defended the plan, saying the state should cut spending before it raises taxes.
Republicans have criticized the state's expenditure on consultants, pointing to an example in which the government was paying a consultant $372 an hour.
Dieter, however, said Republicans cannot back up any of their claims.
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