An audience of 40 to 50 were present at a budgetary commission meeting last month, but they left without hearing what they came for.

The group largely responsible for planning state student financial aid funding, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, was scheduled to approve its own budget recommendations Jan. 16 in Chicago.

Instead, when members arrived they were told it would not be purposeful to suggest a budget to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, said ISAC’s student member George Lesica.

Lesica, an Eastern junior political science major, said the ISAC’s instruction not to recommend funds could be because of assumptions the IBHE would further cut its suggestions.

He said the audience members at last month’s commission meeting would have been voicing concerns about a budget that might never have been a reality.

“ISAC’s staff was consulted,” Lesica said. “In my opinion, I think the problem is the governor’s office is communicating a number. Then, the IBHE is looking at that number and asking ‘well, what can we give them.'”

The IBHE is recommending a $389 million budget for the ISAC in Fiscal Year 2005, a decline of $9.4 million, or 2.4 percent, according to a board press release.

In the past, the commission sent budget recommendations in September to the IBHE, which weighed the suggestions before Gov. Rod Blagojevich made the final decision.

Now, the state is facing a different era, coming off the worst budget crisis the state has ever seen.

ISAC state spokeswoman Lori Reimers said she still does not see the commission’s lack of recommendations last month as negative.

The ISAC is working with the IBHE and governor’s office, requesting important funds for financial need-based aid and Monetary Assistance Program grants, she said.

Reimers said any budget approved that does not cut the commission’s current funding would be considered positive.

“This year is different from other years given the severity of the state’s budget crisis right now,” she said. “I do not see the General Assembly and the governor reducing the amount of financial aid given to students.”

The ISAC will hold a special meeting Monday to discuss approving a MAP grant start-up formula that will suggest grant funding and distribution based on the previous financial year. Reimers expects the commission to approve the formula, which includes a request for MAP funds to stay at 2004 appropriations of $338 million.

The late budget suggestions are probably a necessity considering funding situations with the current state budget, said IBHE student member Kevin O’Kelly.

“ISAC cannot worry about us not approving (a budget) because they have to plan what’s right,” said O’Kelly, who graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

ISAC is not the only one holding off recommendations. The IBHE postponed budget talks for next fiscal year with state universities in December. The board will instead discuss budget recommendations Tuesday.

IBHE spokesman Don Sevener said the board began going over budget recommendations in August with higher education bodies, but would not say why ISAC members were told not to approve suggestions at their January meeting.

“I’m not going to comment on another commission’s procedures,” he said.

The IBHE is recommending a budget of $2.34 billion for higher education operations and grants in Fiscal Year 2005. The proposal is a $79.8 million decrease, or 3.3 percent, from the current financial year appropriations, the IBHE release stated.