February 25, 2002
"Update on State Budget Discussions"
From: Acting President Emerson H. Fly
To: Faculty, staff and students on all UT campuses

Last week, I updated you on current budget discussions in
Nashville. I noted our state legislators should be focused on finding ways
to fund the Governor's budget proposal for higher education, but the
continuing stalemate was causing them to turn their attention to "no new
revenue" next year. In that e-mail, I made the following statement: "The
actions required to balance the current budget will not be pretty; those
required to balance next year's budget without a tax increase will be
devastating to the state."

Late yesterday, one version of a "no new revenue" budget was released, and
my words proved very true. While we don't have all of the details because
they have not been released, we do have some sense of the magnitude of the
proposal. The "no new revenue" budget called for the elimination of all
state monies for our public service programs that assist industry and local
governments, additional cuts of about $40 million for our campuses and
units, and a shifting of funding responsibility for the Centers of
Excellence. Similar reductions are proposed for the Board of Regents
institutions. While cuts of this magnitude are unthinkable for higher
education, the possible reductions in K-12 funding are even larger.

In a state that is at the bottom in tax burden and in spending on
education, the General Assembly should not seriously consider this budget.
I can't imagine that the citizens of Tennessee would tolerate cuts in
education of nearly a half a billion dollars.

Our future depends on more Tennesseans graduating from high school and
completing some level of post-secondary education. The good paying jobs
will demand a better-educated population. That's why we need to make
investments in the people of Tennessee, not cuts that will put us at the
bottom in every category of state services.

While I am confident that a budget like this one will not pass, we must not
take anything for granted in this environment. Therefore, I encourage you
to talk to your friends and your state legislators about the devastating
impact that more cuts will have on our University. Tell them about some of
the good things that are happening at UT and the even better things that
might come with an "investment in education" budget rather than a "take
education to the absolute bottom" proposal.