Assembly and Senate leadership have agreed on a version of Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to allow the State University of New York and City University of New York to set predictable tuition increases, enable the four largest universities to borrow money for construction, and make other changes, according to a legislative official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the deal are not final, says the legislative agreement to be presented to Paterson includes:
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— Planned tuition increases to all campuses of about 2 percent in the fall and around 4 percent a year for the following three years. The exact percentage is still being negotiated, but would avoid spikes in tuition, often in hard fiscal times when the state government was strapped for cash.
— Rejection of a proposal for “differential tuition” or a higher tier of tuition for the university centers in Buffalo, Binghamton, Albany and Stony Brook. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver opposed the measure, fearing a two-tiered system would deny poor families access to the top university centers.
— Revenue from tuition increases will stay with campuses and the state can’t reduce funding. The agreement includes a push by Senate leader John Sampson to increase state grants to protect the poorest students by covering all of their tuition cost.
— A borrowing program for construction at the university centers in Buffalo, Binghamton, Albany and Stony Brook. That would be an economic development boost for the regions, although it will delay a $5 billion plan at Buffalo that included moving part of the university center downtown. The funds could be used only for instruction buildings and dorms, not hotels and other enterprises sought under a previous proposal to allow public-private partnerships.
—An expiration date for the plan of within three to five years, the exact time still being negotiated. At that point all or any parts could be eliminated or changed.
The legislative agreement reflects much of Paterson’s plan to reinvent the public universities and allow the four university centers to boost their academic reputations nationally.
The agreement was forced by Democratic senators William Stachowski of Buffalo, Neil Breslin of Albany and Brian Foley of Suffolk County, each with university centers in their districts that could become SUNY flagships under the proposal. They had denied their votes on the final element of a state budget that was due April 1 to force further consideration of the proposal.
A second legislative official close to the negotiations who also spoke on the condition of anonymity said the agreement reached Thursday between Silver and Sampson is scheduled for approval by the Senate and Assembly on Tuesday, pending Paterson’s approval. The official required anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to reveal the deal.
Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook said the Democratic governor hasn’t seen enough details of any legislative proposals to say whether he would support it. The higher education proposal initiated by Paterson was long seen as a legacy goal for him.
Silver spokeswoman Sisa Moyo said there is no final agreement with the Senate, although there is support for “modest changes.” She said any agreement will have to assure access by all New Yorkers to public higher education.
On Thursday morning, Paterson brought key rank-and-file Assembly members into a private discussion with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher. After the meeting, she said there was a good discussion of the concerns of the leading black and Hispanic Democrats, mostly from New York City.
Zimpher said the measure was probably the most comprehensive legislation since Gov. Nelson Rockefeller greatly expanded SUNY in the 1960s, creating the nation’s largest public university system, and added that Paterson’s meeting Thursday morning resulted in “huge progress.”
“I don’t want to do it at the expense of the future of our children of color,” warned Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a Bronx-Westchester Democrat.
By MICHAEL GORMLEY,Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
