Gov. Mitch Daniels presented his budget proposal for the next two years to the State Budget Committee on Tuesday, including a 3 percent decrease in operating funds to Ball State.
Daniels also told the committee he will convene a special session of the legislature on June 11. The General Assembly did not pass a budget before its regular session ended on April 29.
State budgets are passed for two years at a time in Indiana. The new budget will fund the state from July 2009 to June 2011.
Rep. Dennis Tyler, whose district includes Ball State, said he has yet to carefully study the proposal but is happy to hear the governor is willing to use some of the "rainy day fund." He also said he wished the governor had proposed a compromise like this in the regular session to avoid a special session.
Sen. Sue Errington, who represents Delaware County, said she is still reviewing the proposal, but noticed some projects important to her were missing. She said the proposal is a starting point and the legislature can still make changes.
Funding for Ball State operating expenses decreased from about $256 million from the 2007-2009 budget to about $248 million in the governor's proposal for 2009-2011. This is a decrease of just over 3 percent.
Ball State's total appropriations decreased by about 3.5 percent, from about $333 million to about $321 million.
Total student assistance funding increased by about 5 percent in the budget, from about $491 million to about $516 million.
The budget uses stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to support some Ball State projects. Errington said this federal stimulus money saved the state from having to make some very tough decisions.
Ball State's General Repair and Rehab budget stayed the same, but used federal recovery act money instead of state money.
The proposal also maintains the $33 million previously approved for the Central Campus Academic Project, which includes renovations of the Teachers College, North Quad and Applied Science and Technology buildings. This money also comes from the recovery act.
The General Assembly will meet when the governor convenes the special session. It must pass a new budget before the current one expires June 30.
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