SEMO GETS MIXED BUDGET BAG; BUSINESS BUILDING FUNDING TRIMMED FROM GOVERNOR'S PACKAGE

For the second consecutive year, Gov. John Ashcroft has vetoed a $100,000 appropriation of planning money for a new College of Business Building at Southeast Missouri State University.

The new business building is regarded as a top priority for the university, and school officials were hoping for state financing to move the planning process further.

Ashcroft acted Friday on appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 1993 that begins Wednesday. The bills were passed during this year's session of the General Assembly. The new state budget totals $10.4 billion.

The governor also removed from Southeast's budget a line item that would have reimbursed the university $201,000 for overhead costs of administering the Bootheel Education Center in Malden.

Both items were not included in the governor's original budget presented to the legislature in January. The cuts were among $41.1 million made by Ashcroft to bring spending in line with current revenue estimates for next year.

Despite the vetoes, the news from Jefferson City was not all bad for Southeast this year. Ashcroft kept intact the amount appropriated by the legislature for higher education institutions in the state and went along with most funding added by the legislature for an elevator that had not been part of his original budget.

"We are disappointed with the vetoes but are certainly very pleased that the governor was able to sign the amount of dollars he recommended in his budget," said Art Wallhausen, assistant to Southeast President Kala Stroup.

The general operating budget appropriation for Southeast in Fiscal 1993 is $31.4 million, which is what the governor and legislative appropriations committees had agreed on.

The Coordinating Board on Higher Education had recommended Southeast get $35.7 million, but the board's suggested amounts for all universities are normally reduced by the rest of the appropriations process.

In Fiscal 1992, Southeast had a budget figure of $31.7 million, however, the governor vetoed out 1 percent. Wallhausen said he was pleased Ashcroft did not veto anything from this budget.

Ashcroft is also withholding 3 percent from the appropriations of all state agencies. However, funds could be released later. Last year, the governor had to withhold 5 percent at the start of the fiscal year.

Due to a series of cuts and withholdings during the year because of declining state revenue, Southeast suffered total budget cuts of $1.8 million in Fiscal 1992.

Wallhausen noted that the board of regents had based its budget for the new fiscal year on a 5 percent withholding. At this time, Wallhausen said there are no plans to allocate the additional 2 percent, even though the governor withheld just 3 percent.

The 3 percent withholding amounts to $942,000.

"If there is not another major withholding, we will not have to operate with the type of setback we had last year," observed Wallhausen. "This is not a plush budget but is certainly better than the $1.8 million reduction we had last year."

The capital budget signed by Ashcroft will enable Southeast to complete an eight-year effort to make all classroom buildings on campus handicapped accessible with elevators.

Ashcroft had recommended two elevators in his budget, one for the Grauel Language Arts Building and one for the Social Sciences Building. The legislature added another $100,000 for a third elevator, in the Art Building. The governor vetoed $10,000 from that appropriation, but Wallhausen said there should be enough funding for the third elevator to be installed.

"This will enable the last three classroom buildings that do not have elevators to be dealt with," noted Wallhausen.

Southeast has $552,500 in the capital improvement budget for the state, with all but about $100,000 earmarked for elevators.

Initially, in the Fiscal 1992 budget, Southeast had just $82,000 set aside for capital improvements. But early in this legislative session, an additional appropriation of about $1.5 million was approved for Southeast to be used for maintenance and repair on campus.

Wallhausen said university officials will continue to plead their case with the Coordinating Board and governor for the additional funding for the Bootheel Education Center and the College of Business Building.

Wallhausen explained that Southeast has not gotten additional funding from the state for overhead costs of the center, even though enrollments have gone from 300 in 1988 when it opened to over 2,000 now. There have also been four new rooms and a science lab added to the facility.

"We will continue to try and make our case to the Coordinating Board and governor," said Wallhausen. "The case was made in the legislature this year."