UT Austin President William Powers gave the university community an update on the budget and his vision for the future during a speech Monday morning. President Powers said, as the semester ends, the university still doesn’t know exactly how state budget cuts will affect UT. But he gave an update on where things stand for the moment. “Under the House version, state general revenue for UT Austin will decrease by 20 1/2% or by $57 million a year. The Senate version would reduce our general revenue by about 16%, or about $50 million a year,” Powers said.
Powers said UT has planned for cuts at the Senate level. But if the leaner House version passes, the university will have to make deeper cuts. “We’ll have to make up the differences with some reserve balances, additional budget cuts and, yes, layoffs,” he said.
