September 27, 2001
Dear Colleagues: On Tuesday, Secretary of Administration and Finance Stephen Crosby held a meeting of fiscal officers at all state agencies, including representatives from the universities, state colleges and community colleges.
He announced that agreement had been reached on an overall bottom line for the FY 2002 budget, $22.63 billion dollars, a figure that is about $240 million dollars less than the proposals currently in the House and Senate. He said that state agencies could expect budgets at maintenance levels only for FY 2003; and that the reserves in the rainy day fund ($4.5 billion dollars) and a transitional escrow account ($570 million dollars from the FY 2001 surplus) would not be used at this time to balance the budget for next year, but would be held until the decline in sate tax revenues (4.5% for July and August) becomes more concrete, given the great economic uncertainty generated by the events of September 11th.
In response to a question from the audience, Crosby stated that agencies should assume that collective bargaining costs would have to be absorbed by the agencies in existing budgets. Should this statement be enacted through the legislative process that still must be undertaken to approve the FY 2002 budget, it would have devastating consequences for the entire higher education system in Massachusetts.
Members should know that I have been in contact with several state legislators, representatives from the Council of Presidents and the Board of Higher Education, and staff members in the MTA divisions of Governmental Relations and Higher Education to clarify exactly what the FY 2002 budget holds for the funding of the MSCA contract and to develop a coordinated strategy involving all of the groups above, in addition to the MSCA leadership, to deal with funding our contract without decimating state college budgets. Information about this situation changes with every phone call and email I get, but I will continue to post, to the extent possible, verified and accurate information on the MSCA webpage for the membership.
You should have received a postcard from MTA at your home address, urging you to contact state representatives and senators about the contract funding. If you have already done so, I thank you, but I urge you to call again. If you have not yet contacted your representatives, it is all the more important to do so, now.
The Board of Higher Education will meet on Tuesday, October 2nd, beginning at 9:30 am at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Members are urged to attend. If you need directions to Mass Art, please contact my office (978-542-7282).
Pat Markunas MSCA President
MSCA Home/Messages to the Membership 9/25/01