Monday messages

Legislative update

Dear Colleagues,

Without question, the 2005-06 school year has been a very successful one for the University of Kansas. Today and tomorrow, I will be summarizing accomplishments of the school year for two very important audiences: first, to the Kansas Board of Regents in my annual presentation and, second, to the university community at large in my remarks at the All University Supper. Because these remarks will be available to you on the KU Web site, I won't elaborate further on the Big Picture. However, I do want to take this opportunity to review a subject of great importance to all of us: the recently completed session of the Kansas Legislature.

By any standard, the 2006 Kansas legislative session - which draws to a ceremonial close May 25 - will go down as a very productive one for KU and Kansas higher education in general. In the end, the legislature adopted all key elements of KU's agenda, including an increase in the annual level of base state funding, additional money for faculty and staff salary increases, and several major initiatives providing KU with greater flexibility to run the University more efficiently and effectively.

Here are highlights of the session:

Budget and Faculty and Staff Salary Increases Basic state funding for KU will increase by more than $7 million over current year levels. The budget includes a 2 percent merit pool for faculty and staff pay increases, while fulfillment of Senate Bill 345 will add an additional 1 percent for faculty pay raises. Once tuition rates are set for the coming year, we will be able to finalize merit percentages.

Kansas Cancer Initiative

The legislature approved the Governor's proposal to dedicate $5 million annually to our Cancer Center initiative. This investment signals to the National Cancer Institute that the State of Kansas is committed to developing a national cancer care facility. The Cancer Center initiative enjoyed bipartisan support from the House and Senate leadership. In addition to the appropriation, legislation introduced by Senator Barbara Allen created a state income tax check-off for breast cancer research, the funds from which will go to the KU Cancer Center.

Ownership of Tuition Interest

After years of discussion, the legislature endorsed a request first raised by KU that Regents institutions be allowed to retain the interest earnings on tuition and fees paid directly to us by students and parents. This interest has always gone into the State General Fund. For KU, it will amount to more than $3 million annually, which for the next five years will be applied to deferred building maintenance needs.

Better Insurance

A comprehensive insurance provision will benefit the campus and students. One component allows us to purchase insurance for valuable assets such as costly research equipment -- a need the legislators quickly acknowledged after witnessing the microburst storm in March. The property insurance was successfully paired with a provision to allow KU to negotiate directly with providers for more affordable and comprehensive health insurance for our students, Graduate Teaching Assistants and Graduate Research Assistants.

Support for Nursing Programs

Legislators also addressed the Kansas nursing shortage by adding an additional $5.2 million for state nursing programs, including $200,000 in scholarships for those seeking graduate degrees in Nursing.

Defensive Actions

In addition to approving the initiatives above, legislators were successful in preventing adoption of a variety of measures that in our judgment would be contrary to the interests of KU. Included among these would be prohibitions on stem cell research, the so-called Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR), the "academic bill of rights" and repeal of the law granting in-state tuition to qualifying children of illegal aliens.

There is no doubt that we benefited this session from brightening state revenue forecasts, but we also owe special thanks to Governor Sebelius and the many Kansas legislators, including members of the Douglas, Wyandotte, Sedgwick, and Johnson County delegations, who faced extremely difficult decisions and ultimately chose to support KU and higher education. I would also like to recognize the hard work of KU's legislative team, notably Keith Yehle, Kathy Damron and Marci Nielsen. Positive results from a long legislative session will help lay the groundwork for tomorrow's accomplishments.

Sincerely,
Bob Hemenway
Chancellor