Cuts in funding for Illinois public universities could be on the way.

Because of a budget shortfall for fiscal year 2008, Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed cutting 8.3 percent of general revenues to public universities to try attempt to solve the shortfall situation.

Blagojevich’s proposed cuts, which would affect more than just schools of higher education, total around $1.3 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.

Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said because the proposal was announced late in the fiscal year, cuts to projects and staff could be possible if Blagojevich’s proposed cuts take effect.

“I see no other way to come up with that much at this period in the year,” he said.

Cooley said it would be difficult to recoup an 8.3 percent cut because the cut would have been for the entire fiscal year.

Because there are two months left in the fiscal year, the university would have to come up with about $4 million dollars if the cuts went through.

“It would be next to impossible,” Cooley said.

The university has received no notification as to when or if Blagojevich’s cuts would take effect, Cooley said.

Blagojevich’s proposed $1.3 billion funding cut is also aimed to correct a $750 million shortfall in the budget, said Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

A shortfall typical exists when budget projections do not come through as expected.

The General Assembly has no idea where the 98.5 percent of revenues from fiscal year 2008 went, Rose said.

Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, predicts the shortfall to be around $400 million, Rose said. The $750 million number comes from the original fiscal year 2008 budget, not including Blagojevich’s vetoes to the budget.

“The biggest reason is the numbers don’t add up,” Rose said. “There is something going on here. He is either creating this crisis or spent the money somewhere else.”

Rose believes Blagojevich is either withholding vouchers to create a shortfall to force the General Assembly to pass a funds sweep legislation, or is spending the money in places where the money was not intended to go.

A spokesperson for Blagojevich could not be reached for comment.

Rose said the General Assembly’s role in the Illinois Constitution is to appropriate funds, and the governor’s role is to spend those funds.

The General Assembly therefore cannot authorize the spending of those appropriated funds, Rose said.

“Once we appropriate it, we have no control over anything,” he said.

Because of this and Blagojevich’s over-the-top cuts, he has talked with internal auditors to see where the 98.5 percent of revenues were spent.

Rose said that would be a difficult task because it would practically be a $28 billion audit.

Nonetheless, there are several audits pending that are going to come forward that might put the spotlight on where the money is going.

“I’m going to wait and see what comes out from that,” Rose said.

In another attempt to solve the shortfall situation, legislation designed to sweep $400 million in funds from other areas of the budget passed through the Senate and now is in the House of Representatives.

The funds sweep legislation would take money from special funds.

Rose said he is opposed to the legislation because Blagojevich has given no indication to the General Assembly where that money would go.

“I have great reservations until I get some better assurance of what happened to the money we already have,” Rose said.

The special funds are also dedicated to a purpose such as someone choosing to buy a novelty Eastern license plate, Rose said.

The add-on fee to that license plate goes to scholarships to help Eastern students pay for college. The fee is an example of what the funds sweep legislation would affect, if the General Assembly approved it, he said.

“This is a fundamental, philosophical issue,” Rose said. “You’re basically stealing money out of these special funds to pay for things they weren’t intended.”

If these proposed cuts were announced earlier in the fiscal year, Eastern would have withheld from undertaking certain projects, Cooley said.

The majority of Eastern’s budget is in personal service costs, and Cooley said he does not know what kinds of non-personal service dollars the university could recover to prevent cuts to staff.

Eastern President Bill Perry said the cuts would be difficult to deal with.

The university would prioritize if Blagojevich makes his cuts. Eastern would first take care of its people, then the programs and then the facilities, Perry said.

“Clearly, in the face of any kind of cut for any reason, our first instinct is to take care of our people,” Perry said.

Other proposed cuts by Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

– Delay payment cycle for nursing homes from three months to six months (a $375 million cut)

– Delay the payment cycle for pharmacy bills from three months to six months (a $450 million cut)

– Stop payment on 78 percent of the funds devoted to Soil and Water districts (a $5.9 million cut)

– Cut 100 percent of the University of Illinois Extension Local County Match (a $12.8 million cut)

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].