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Printer-Friendly ModeStewart addresses funding concerns
September 19, 2005 —
Sources: Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan; Higher Education Appropriations Report - HFA & SFA
State Representative John Stewart was not afraid to shy away from the truth at the "Hardball" event, on Tuesday.
"Over the last three years, the state of Michigan has cut your appropriations (for higher education) by over 15 percent," Stewart said to those in attendance in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall. Over the past ten years, higher education costs have shifted from the state to individual students, as revenues have stagnated.
The Hardball event was moderated by Cameron Knowles, formerly of WSGW radio and currently the director of media relations with the Saginaw Spirit. The Hardball series with Stewart made SVSU its second stop across Michigan, as it will eventually visit several of the state's public universities.
Promising to "tell it like it is" as a term-limited state legislator, Stewart (R - Plymouth) is the chairman of the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee, which directly controls how much money from the state of Michigan goes to state-supported universities.
Throughout the forum, Stewart didn't shy away from offering tidbits of advice to students, relying on his nine years in college at Eastern Michigan and Wayne State.
"There is an inextricable relationship in higher education and your cerebral exercises in getting that higher education and securing a job," Stewart said. He also noted his oldest daughter, who could not find a teaching position in Michigan, is now teaching elementary school in Shanghai, China.
Even though Stewart often lamented the paucity of state funds for higher education, he told the crowd that there won't be a tax increase in the next fourteen months, to raise new funds for higher education for one reason - the 2006 gubernatorial elections in Michigan. Any serious candidate for governor would be pilloried by both parties for advocating a tax increase, even if it is the sensible action to take, Stewart said.
"This is the last year we are going to be able to survive at this level of revenue," Stewart said, pointing out that the state has the same amount of revenue coming in today as it did in 1995. "Where else can we cut?"
Many of Stewart's comments deviated strongly from the traditional party lines, advocating both traditionally Republican and traditionally Democratic positions. Stewart acknowledged the need for an increase in state revenues, voting for both of the recent cigarette tax hikes. Stewart also proposed slashing the budget for the Department of Corrections, which has a higher budget than higher education, noting that one out of every three state employees works for the Department.
"Every dollar the state invests in higher education appropriations, the state gets back $26 in the economy," Stewart added, noting that state prisons are often used to house non-violent drug offenders at taxpayers' expense.
In addition, Stewart also advocated raising the state funding of the lowest funded public universities. SVSU is the third-lowest funded university for the 2005 fiscal year, with its $3,501 state appropriations per student less than half of what Wayne State, U of M - Ann Arbor, and Michigan Tech all draw per student from the state. As a primarily undergraduate institution, Stewart acknowledged SVSU would receive less than the more research-oriented colleges, but believes it still deserves more.
"We need to close the gap, and we need to bring the lower universities up," Stewart said, adding that there is no reason for SVSU to not have equal funding with the three Mid-American Conference schools - Eastern, Western, and Central Michigan.
Stewart acknowledged the need for better pay in order to attract more collegiate faculty, especially in the healthcare sector, where demand exists for both nurses and several types of doctors. He agreed there is often no financial gain for many in the healthcare sector to strive for graduate degrees.
"There is no incentive, financially, to get the masters degree and higher, to go on and teach (in healthcare)," Stewart said. He added that "more funding for faculty in the healthcare area is a need."
Stewart also made a plea for a more diversified economic base. The manufacturing sector is in a continued decline, with automobile plants employing 25 percent fewer workers today than they did five years ago. Stewart acknowledged that hemorrhaging in the manufacturing industry will continue to be a problem for Michigan's economy.
"We need to look for other types of employment," Stewart said, sharing his belief that state universities have the power to revitalize local economies. Stewart believes SVSU could serve as the impetus for jobs and new industries in the Tri-Cities and the thumb region.
Stewart spoke often about the need for a "sensible center," free from far-right and far-left politicians, a center that most Michigan residents belong to. Stewart also professed a hope, one shared by U.S. Representative Dale Kildee in a forum last year at SVSU, that the intense partisanship would subside, and moderates and centrists would return again to the political arena.
"Unfortunately, I've found that the way in Lansing is that you have to criticize the other side completely," Stewart said. "I have asked Governor Granholm to make funding for higher education the best example of bipartisanship. And I truly think she's going to take me up on that offer."
Stewart believes Michigan will eventually shake off the bitterness and rancor that has been characteristic of its politics the past decade. And, he is optimistic that both major parties will again work together to alleviate many of the state's continuing problems.
"We need to create some mainstream, moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans again," he added, "which is what Michigan has historically been."