Marching forward in an uphill struggle to mend Virginia's budgetary crisis, state lawmakers issued revisions to their competing House and Senate budget plans Sunday - plans that include deep funding cuts and in-state tuition hikes that will place an unavoidable strain on the University and other Virginia colleges.
In meetings that Sen. Walter A. Stosch, R-Glen Allen, described as "extraordinarily difficult," the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees each finalized revisions to their respective proposals, which legislators hope will rescue the state from its immediate $1.3 billion shortfall.
Under each chamber's plan, state universities will be permitted to raise tuition either by 7 percent under the House's version or 9 percent under the Senate's to defray the cost of slashed higher education funding.
But while the Senate's version calls for a $300 million reduction for state colleges as opposed to the House's proposed $75 million cut, University President John T. Casteen III was uncertain as to which chamber's proposal would hit the University hardest.
"Neither does what it should do," Casteen said. "But the approaches in the two bills ought to provide a basis for progress when the conferees and Governor begin the more serious work in a week or two."
Behind the House's smaller proposed cut , administrators say, lurk details that would tap into a portion of the University's interest income and cancel a reserve fund that supports urgently-needed building renovations. It also would lay additional costs on out-of-state students to help repay bonds issued in 1992 under the General Obligation Bond bill.
Either way, "higher education has taken a tremendous hit," said Larry J. Sabato, professor of government and foreign affairs.
Pointing to a host of still unpublished details and fine print in both plans, Sabato echoed Casteen's sentiment that it is too early to take sides on the two plans.
Though the House and Senate both are reversing their earlier decisions to freeze salaries of state workers and university faculty, the overall outlook for the state's 17 public colleges and universities still remains bleak.
"It's really a question of whether our heads are cut off with an axe or a scalpel," Sabato said. "But the effects are just the same."
Few other services, agencies or programs, however, will weather the process without suffering similarly severe financial setbacks.
"They've cut so significantly because they have to balance the budget," said Dave Hunt, a spokesman for Del. Vincent F. Callahan, R-Richmond, head of the House Appropriations committee.
In the wake of last year's budget impasse in the General Assembly, House and Senate members alike were adamant that they reach a sound and effective solution through careful line-item analysis and cuts to historically unproductive programs.
Gov. Mark R. Warner promised such a resolution, releasing a statement saying "the law demands it, the people deserve it, and I guarantee it."
Unlike last year, the "subcommittees have been cooperative and fair," Hunt said. "They will not cut across the board - only at the line-item level."
Stosch confirmed that the same painstaking approach was being taken in the Senate's finance committee.
"We're making an in-depth, line-by-line analysis," he said.
Senate priorities include public education and health and human services, with particular emphasis on Medicaid, he said.
"But we had to make some difficult choices. There are so many needs and services offered by state governments," he added.
After the House and Senate pass their own versions of the budget, each will then vote on the other's package.
Traditionally, this crossover between the General Assembly is met with immediate rejection of both versions.
A conference committee of about eight to 10 members from both the House and Senate will convene Feb. 28 to being negotiations on a compromise.
The conference committee then will produce a final version to be passed in the House and Senate before being submitted to Warner in a process that Sabato says may extend into April.
"We'll just have to see what develops," he said. "I would just suggest to people to keep their powder dry"
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