Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 7 (Feb. 23, 2004)

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A Briefing for Faculty & Staff of the University System of Georgia No. 7, February 23, 2004
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

Meredith Addresses House Higher Education Subcommittee

As the 2004 session of the Georgia General Assembly passed the halfway mark last week, Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith continued to hammer home to lawmakers the awesome challenge of maintaining academic quality while the University System of Georgia's enrollment escalates and its budget is repeatedly reduced.

"That is the essence of our situation -- maintaining academic quality with more students and fewer dollars," he told the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Feb. 17. "It is a balancing act, and we've had to make some tough decisions."
The University System's budget reductions will total $105 million for the "A" and

"B" units alone in FY 2005, bringing the total cumulative impact of all cuts since November 2001 to $316 million, Meredith noted.
"These cuts do not even include the $15 million that has been lost in lottery funds for our Equipment, Technology and Construction (ETACT) Fund," he added, reminding legislators that they established this trust

A Look at Legislation

Variety of Bills Seek to Regulate Cost, Accessibility of Textbooks

Georgia's legislators are hitting the books literally.

Tangentially, some representatives are looking at bills introduced to require pub-

All of these bills currently are under consideration by the House Higher Educa-

A number of bills aimed at managing the price of textbooks have been introduced. House Bill 1368 seeks to limit the amount college bookstores can mark up the price of textbooks to 15 percent. House Bill 1434 seeks to require colleges to use textbooks for six semesters or two calendar years, with the idea that this will keep used books in demand.

lishers and higher education faculty to provide textbooks in electronic format. House Bill 712 simply states that all textbooks are to be available in electronic format by July 2005. House Bill 1020 provides protection for publishers' intellectual property -- but again requires any material produced for higher education to be provided in electronic format.

tion Subcommittee, with the exception of House Bill 1020, which is being studied by the House Education Subcommittee.
An information meeting on the topic of electronic textbooks will be held this Wednesday, Feb 25, at 3:30 pm in Room 416 of the State Capitol.

fund to help the University System meet the need for high-tech equipment for labs and classrooms.
Matched by gifts from the private sector, ETACT funds have enabled USG campuses to purchase $30 million in new high-tech equipment. Lottery funds previously used for this purpose now are needed to preserve the state's HOPE Scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs.
As he did in similar presentations before the Joint Appropriations Committee and the House and Senate Higher Education
See "Chancellor," Page 2
Keeping Count
Today (Feb. 23) is Day 23 of the legislative session. There are 17 legislative days remaining before "sine die" (final adjournment) is declared.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- February 23, 2004, Issue No. 7

Chancellor
Continued from Page 1...
Committees in recent weeks, the chancellor was quick to note how grateful the Board of Regents is to Gov. Sonny Perdue for recommending additions to the FY `05 Budget that include almost $123 million in new formula funds for the University System.
These dollars were calculated using enrollment totals established two years ago, when the University System had 27,000 fewer students, he noted, but

they are critical nonetheless, he said.
Meredith called the subcommittee's attention to the fact that requests for $22.5 million in the FY `04 Amended Budget and $33.3 million in the FY `05 Budget to cover increases in the employer share of the University System's health insurance premiums have not been addressed.
"This is a bill we have to pay, and with no recommendation, it amounts to an ad-

ditional $55.8 million cut to the University System," he said. "We simply will have to take the money from existing institutional budgets."
Turning to the System's capital budget, Meredith expressed appreciation for the Governor's recommendation authorizing a total of $229 million in bonds for USG construction projects, including $60 million in bonds for major repairs and renovations to the System's aging facilities. He also

encouraged support for the recommendation to include $900,000 for the Governor's Traditional Industries Program and $19.3 million for the Georgia Research Alliance.
"There has never been a better time to build much-needed facilities," the chancellor told subcommittee members. "It positions us for the future, it takes advantage of low interest rates and it creates jobs today when they are needed throughout Georgia."

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