More higher education cuts?

[jacksfan29]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Less painful and less sharp cuts to K-12 budgets. Maybe only 21 jobs will be cut this year at SDSU instead of 64. I work with an SDSU employee doing income taxes. Is she worried about losing her job? Yes she is, a very good Republican btw. ... With only 5 Democrats in the South Dakota Senate and 26 reps in the house, what little can they offer in resistence? Asking this question is mute since our voters choose a one party government to represent them in Pierre. The 10 per cent cut is a slam dunk, and the Gov takes the risk of the consequences.

I think everyone in the country working in the private sector worries about losing their job also, many have. I doubt it matters if they are Republican or Democrat. I once worked for a very large company which has operations in SD in addition to many western states. When I started with them in 1999 they employed 65,000 people. When I left in 2009 they employed just over 30,000. Today they employ less then 27,000 and the number continues to fall on a quarterly basis. Many of those people who were laid off are still unemployed or underemployed. Likely the majority have taken a cut in pay or have lost benefits. Losing ones job is not a partisan issue.

[Nidaros]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Losing ones job is not a partisan issue.

I fully agree. I worked 15 years in the private sector with one employer which was a growing company and including my military time, I worked 23 years for the Fed, but one thing I noticed is that once management made a decision, it took effect immediately, with govt, it took time to put decisions into affect. The state of South Dakota with one party controlling the governor and both houses of the legislature, I would expect everything to be very swift and all the various SDSU heads will be busy deciding which 64 jobs are expendable and this will happen very quickly.

In my case with the fed, my boss told me in the intial interview, that the agency was on the chopping block, and he could not guarentee that I would retire from that agency, and low and behold nearly 20 years later I retired. What made this agency survive was the trade associations of electric cooperatives who wanted our agency as a source of utility plant financing. There were moments of concern but the wheels move slowly in govt, and much different from board of directors office that can and do swiftly as did the company you worked for.
When everyone in the work group is assembled it usually is not a good feeling so I found in the private sector.

I just mentioned my co-worker as its kind of a crisis in her mind right now and the fact that the 10 per cent cut is pretty much a slam dunk.

I also sent Senator Belgna from Clear Lake an email this morning using the offical SD Legislature website. It works pretty good. Looks to me a little bit gerrymandering when a guy from CLear Lake district includes Kingsbury County but I suspect I am getting political here.

[bigticket1]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Thanks, and I think its a good analogy of kicking the can down the road. Both sides see the other's solution as passing the buck, so to speak. I do wonder about what revenues will look like next year if video lottery revenue is down, as the smoking ban opponents were suggesting. In other words, if things don't get better by next year, could we be looking at 15% cuts instead of these "one time" 10% cuts. I guess either way, if things don't improve, tough decisions will need to be made again next year.

The more I learn about this issue, the more I think Prairiehass's suggestion (I think it was him) about raising fees for things like vehicle licensing paired with more modest cuts may be the right way to go.

Here's another question. As I understand it, the Dept of Game, Fish, and Parks is basically self-suffecient. A family member works in that department, and told me a few months back that they wouldn't be a part of any cuts because "they are a whole separate entity and get all their money from hunting license sales." I could be misinformed on this, if anybody knows feel free to correct me. Are they facing cuts as well? If not, why not force cuts in their department as well, and use the overflow to help balance things out in other areas? Probably wouldn't be a ton of money, but would be worth looking into (as long as my previous assumption holds true).

I may be wrong,but I think I remember a story on KELO last week that said Game,Fish & Parks would face cuts.

[leeshajo]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I think actually GF&P are scheduled to receive like 22 percent less state funding next year but because they had such a high year of revenues they will not have to make any cuts, they will just fund more with their revenues.

Man it is a tongue twister even typing it....

here is the link to the budget... look at the slides pdf... there is a breakdown by department.

http://www.state.sd.us/bfm/budget/rec12/

[Nidaros]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Here is a email reply that I got from Senator Begalka who represents me in SD Senate:

"I plan to introduce a bill to raise the state sales tax by 1/2 % for one year to help the budget mess." Thanks, Sen. Tim Begalka


The governor might not have a slam dunk. Tim is a proud SDSU Alum he told me and is a Republican. Also yesterday's weekly of the Arlington Sun was published. The lead story was the concern by the Superintendent, Chris Lund. As best he can tell, Arlington would be impacted by an amount of $177,160. I told Senator Begalka in a reply that I could live with an increase in sales tax as my property tax the following year would otherwise be increased in order to make up this revenue short fall. It ain't over until it is over.

[bigticket1]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Here is a email reply that I got from Senator Begalka who represents me in SD Senate:

"I plan to introduce a bill to raise the state sales tax by 1/2 % for one year to help the budget mess." Thanks, Sen. Tim Begalka


The governor might not have a slam dunk. Tim is a proud SDSU Alum he told me and is a Republican. Also yesterday's weekly of the Arlington Sun was published. The lead story was the concern by the Superintendent, Chris Lund. As best he can tell, Arlington would be impacted by an amount of $177,160. I told Senator Begalka in a reply that I could live with an increase in sales tax as my property tax the following year would otherwise be increased in order to make up this revenue short fall. It ain't over until it is over.

An advantage to a sales tax increase is that all of us Minnesota and Iowa residents who do a lot of shopping in Sioux Falls would be contributing to solving the problem. Also,the sales tax makes all residents help with the deficit,not just property owners.

[UWMandSDSU]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I understand this is a "political" free zone so if moderators feel they need to delete this go ahead.

Found this blog by an Argus Leader reporter who has a friend (a professor at USD) that wrote letters to some SD Reps. about education cuts. You may or may not be amazed by the responses the Reps. sent back to him.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...ItemsPerPage=5

[Jacks-02]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I understand this is a "political" free zone so if moderators feel they need to delete this go ahead.

Found this blog by an Argus Leader reporter who has a friend (a professor at USD) that wrote letters to some SD Reps. about education cuts. You may or may not be amazed by the responses the Reps. sent back to him.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...ItemsPerPage=5

For the most part I think the responses are great.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I understand this is a "political" free zone so if moderators feel they need to delete this go ahead.

Found this blog by an Argus Leader reporter who has a friend (a professor at USD) that wrote letters to some SD Reps. about education cuts. You may or may not be amazed by the responses the Reps. sent back to him.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...ItemsPerPage=5

I wonder if the good Professor Steve Bucklin is related to the UConn football booster who made headlines recently?

The funny thing is, the professor probably gave these to the Argus thinking he would come out looking like a genius. The reality is both parties could have chosen their words better.

Also, reminds me of this (one of the funniest exchanges I have ever seen):

Edited to consolidate multiple links: http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/browns.asp

[RabbitObsessed]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I wonder if the good Professor Steve Bucklin is related to the UConn football booster who made headlines recently?

The funny thing is, the professor probably gave these to the Argus thinking he would come out looking like a genius. The reality is both parties could have chosen their words better.

Also, reminds me of this (one of the funniest exchanges I have ever seen):

http://www.snopes.com/photos/sports/.../brownslet.jpg

And this:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/sports/...brownslet2.jpg

Hmm. I thought the legislator's came out looking worse. Especially the last guy.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Hmm. I thought the legislator's came out looking worse.

It probably depends on your political affiliation I guess, but neither side came out looking particularly good, IMO. Like I said, both parties could have chosen their words better.

IMO, the original letter was childish, ill-concieved, self-serving, hollow, elitist, and entitled, which is what the legislators told him. His letter reads like a fan forum post. The legislators responded in kind.

[HoboJack]

Re: More higher education cuts?

What type of reaction did the 'Professor' expect. To summarize his letter, be basically said: I haven't gotten a raise for two years. I want one. Give it to me. If you don't I am not going to play with you. I'll also tell my friends not to play with you either.

What is this person a 'Professor' of? Perhaps Early Childhood education? He seems to have been influenced by some of the students - students.


That said, the responses from the legislators was obviously poor. They should have used much smaller words with fewer syllables so the 'Professor' could understand.

[goon]

Re: More higher education cuts?

He got what he asked for. All sides look bad if you ask me. The middle response atleast had some depth to this reply.

[Nidaros]

Re: More higher education cuts?

I would have to agree with most of the comments in that Professor Bucklin let his emotions run wild while addressing an elected offical.

The majority party stands to loose seats over the the governor's budget proposal and its subsequent impact once its enacted. It's going to cut revenue that generally goes to nursing homes and other institutions. If these guys do not defend the institutions in their own district, they might find themselves with a challenger in the next election. Even Greenfield, could be placed in the position of explaining why the revenue short falls closed schools and nursing homes in his district. By their reaction, I think they are feeling the pressure.

Something else could happen too, we could have a one term governor and he has mentioned that possiblity while touring around the state.

[filbert]

Re: More higher education cuts?

Thought for meditative purposes:

Is it a virtue to be generous with other people's money?