Western Illinois University President Delivers House, Senate Appropriations Testimony - WIU

Western Illinois University President Jack Thomas recently presented budget-related testimony before the Illinois House and Senate Appropriations Committees to urge legislators for greater support of, and funding for, higher education. Thomas and other University leaders appeared before the Senate March 5 and the House April 9. Thomas stressed that continuing delays in reimbursements, as well as possible decreases to FY'15 state appropriations, make planning for the future "extremely difficult" and has resulted in implementing numerous cost-cutting measures. The state currently owes WIU $19 million for FY'14 and another $6.1 million in MAP funding. Western's current deferred maintenance backlog is more than $460 million. Without state support, the University must use tuition and fee increases to renovate buildings and maintain its infrastructure. http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=11565