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State Budget Summary

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Quick summary of Governor's Recommended Budget

On Dec. 1 Governor Ted Kulongoski released his Recommended Budget for the 2009-11 biennium. There is nothing binding about the Governor's budget, rather it serves as a starting point for the Legislature's budget deliberations come January. Even so, the Governor's budget is a promising start.

This is from the Governor's Office press release:

"The Governor's budget makes education his top priority, dedicating 54 percent of the General Fund to the entire education system pre-K through the Opportunity Grant program for post-secondary education." 

"'My passion is to make sure Oregon has the best skilled, best trained, best educated workforce in America,' Governor Kulongoski said. ‘Fifty-four percent of General Fund revenue goes to education.  It is a big number - and it has a big purpose:  To keep Oregon on track toward a powerful, diverse, high-wage economy when the recession breaks and a national recovery begins.'"

The university's legislative advocacy message from here on - at least regarding the operating budget -- is to urge support of the Governor's budget. The Oregon University System will spend the entire legislative trying to protect this number.

Please note, however, that the Governor's budget assumes no cost-of-living salary increases for state workers during the 2009-11 biennium. This presents a budget challenge if we are to meet our peer goals, and will undoubtedly be a lively topic of debate and consideration as we distribute our appropriation on our campus.

Following is a quick summary of the Governor's budget following an initial review. More details will be posted when available, and I encourage you to see the updates provided by our Office of Government and Community Relations.

2009-11 Governor's Recommended Budget

  • Combined General Fund (GF) and Lottery Fund recommendation of $949.5 million is a 5.95% increase from the 2007-9 Legislatively Approved Budget; and only a 1.7% reduction from the Oregon University System Essential Budget Level (EBL) request. For comparison, the Governor's recommended budget for Human Services is a 16.7% GF reduction from EBL.
  • Almost $1 billion in capital bonding for higher education, including $56.3 million approved for the UO power station. There were 11 G-Bond funded projects systemwide, and six of those were deferred maintenance projects.
  • A total of $9.5M in G-Bonds has been proposed for UO capital projects including a new power station and some deferred maintenance. The Governor did not include requested G-Bonds for other UO priority projects: Allen Hall, Alumni Center, Chapman Hall, Museum of Natural and Cultural History. That doesn't mean we won't still work to secure bonds for these projects.
  • Retain interest earnings in exchange for more than $14.1 million in General Fund. This is a significant change that we've pursued for several biennia. Currently, funds that come to the university -including tuition -- are deposited at the State, but the interest on those funds stays at the State to support other agency budgets. The $14.1 million off-set makes it revenue-neutral for the State in the next biennium, but this change would provide a huge benefit to our students in subsequent biennia.
  • Projects in the Governor's Budget that are supported by the Oregon Innovation Council (OregonInc) include: $5.7 million for ONAMI, $2.8 million for the Oregon Transitional Research and Drug Discovery Institute (OTRADI), and $3.2 million for the Built Environment & Sustainable Technology (BEST) signature research center.
  • $3 million increase in funding for the Engineering and Technology Industry Council (ETIC), for a total of $42.5 million.
  • The Governor is proposing an increase in the corporate minimum tax that is earmarked entirely for the Oregon Opportunity Grant.