Eastern’s financial future may have taken another turn for the worse, some say, with the release of Governor George Ryan’s state budget recommendations for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

“It looks like the cuts that were made in this fiscal year will be made permanent as base cuts,” Director of Eastern’s Budget Office Kim Furumo said Wednesday after the governor’s State of the State Address.

Ryan called back a total of $70 million from higher education in this year’s budget, and Eastern’s portion of that cut was $2.3 million. Administrators developed a plan to come up with that money this year, but nearly all of the cuts were deemed feasible for one year only.

A warmer than usual winter and thermostats lowered two degrees in campus buildings saved on utilities. In addition, fewer retirements than usual resulted in large savings on sick leave and accrued leave payouts.

Eastern put off about $300,000 in deferred maintenance and pulled $800,000 out of equipment reserve accounts, something interim President Lou Hencken has said the university can do this year, but not continually.

However, Hencken has said that Eastern has been planning next year’s budget with the potential base cut in mind.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Blair Lord said that as of Wednesday, the administration wanted to wait to comment until they received a copy of the budget and an analysis from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Lord watched Ryan’s address and statement on the budget on television Wednesday, and said the information wasn’t specific enough for the administration to start talking about their plans.

“(Ryan) didn’t provide a whole lot of numbers,” he said.

State Sen. Judy Myers, R-Danville, said she’s discussed the ramifications of a base cut at Eastern with the administration, but Lord would not comment on that Wednesday. She said she would soon contact them again and will support Eastern during its upcoming budget hearings.

Myers said she was unsure if the decrease in Eastern’s funding for fiscal year 2003 was due to a reduced base budget or a denial of the IBHE’s recommended funding increase.

“There’s not much getting any kind of increase,” Myers said. “We were just hoping the funding could remain somewhat at the level it was.”

The IBHE recommended a 5.4 percent overall increase in Eastern’s funding, which would come as a combination of a 2.8 increase in state money and a 10.9 percent increase to come from tuition revenue.

Ryan’s budget called for thousands of layoffs and hiring freezes, mostly to the Department of Corrections.

Both Ryan and Myers stressed the importance of maintaining a balanced state budget.

“The bottom line is that this is a tough budget year and we’ve got to end the year with a budget that’s balanced,” Myers said.

Responsible spending is what has kept the budget under control, Ryan said during his speech.

“This government has not been spending wildly as some have charged,” he said.

The budget still has a long road to approval, Myers said. It must go through caucuses and numerous hearings.

Ryan warned the General Assembly that trying to beef up government spending like they did last year would just prolong what might be a painful process.

“If you give me more spending than I have revenue for, we’ll be here a long time,” the governor said, promising to veto any budget that increases government spending.