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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1977)
monday, fcbrusry 23, 1077 ixon 6nNU. the bodoev osid pe&idino r - . Editor 'i note: Ddly Nehraskm reporter Theresa Foreman interviewed Gov. J. Jsmes Exoa Friday, Exon egisk ua 6vuui Uic isaiwiKiy, IC8 EIXe DUG "St and some tills pccJirj in the Nebrscka Legislature, amenj other thirds. Exca's remakes, edited fcscs!s r.f ewe limitations, fallow. D!y Ntbrsdcan: How do you determine what goes into your budget b23? Exon: By July 1 of each year, when the previous budget has been decided by the Legislature, the budget staff begins work on a zero-base budgeting principle that weVe used in state government ever since I've been here. The analyst builds onto that zero base what, in his opinion, is needed. Then he visits with the budget makers in each agency and makes revisions. When the budgets come from the state agencies on Sept. 15, the analyst compares that request with his recommendations and makes adjustments. I get into the budget-making process actively about Oct. 1 and spend an awful lot of time on it between then and the time I give my budget address. About the first thing I do with budgets is find out the anticipated revenue projections. How much win we have to spend with exist ing tax rates? , DN: Is thst the rnsln criterion? Exon: No, although it is generally thought that this is so. It's a fundamental criterion. That's the way any business would look at how much money it's going to spend the next year. We do try to fit the budget into revenue projections. If it won't fit we have to make reductions or we have to recommend tax increases. For every agency, we try to come up with a realistic budget which meets the needs of the state. "DN: Your budget lecomraendatica for the university for 1977-78 is a&ouf $10 rnon less than whst the university asked for. What was ia the university request that could be cut out? Exon: We felt that the sum of the total programs for increased staffing or increased salaries was something we couldn't afford at this time. Over $3 million was cut out of the budget requested for the Institute of Agriculture (and Natural Resources). Now, they came up with many good plans, but we scaled back those we thought were unnecessary. We raised the university budget from -$94.6 million this year to a recommendation of slightly more than $ 100 million for next year-and that's just general funds (state tax dollars). The recommendation I have made to the Legislature is approximately double the general funds the university received only three years ago. . Nebraska is one of the elites in higher education fund ing. It ranks fifth in increased state appropriations for higher education in the last two years and fourth for increases over the past 10 years. , We think the university has been treated very well. The university is one of the main assets we have but its requests have always been highly in excess of its actual needs. The university has come up with an unbelievable capital construction request. You have to have facilities, and even though they can always be better, the univer sity has excellent ones on every campus. . The main thrust of a university is good teaching and good research. I am critical of the direction of money to an ever-sprawling university, rather than increased support for the perpendicular function of teaching and research-the heart of a university. We should expand into new fields only when we have proper funding of the teaching and research in areas already established. DN: At the NU Board of Regents meeting last Saturday, interim NU president Ronald Roskens sail your recommendation for next year's budget wasnt enough to cover university spending at its presert level. Is your budget designed to coyer academic and other programs as they are financed now? Exon: Certainly. If a $6 million ina c.se is not enough, then we have a lot of fat in the university we should start whittling. If that's true, some restructuring needs to be done. This university of ours comes in for the highest increases each and every year, percentage-wise, of any university in the United States. The university talks and talks and talks about how much the governor has cut its budget. They've had fantastic increases in their budget. That point is sometimes overlooked. , DN: The regents have shown and stated their support for the central administration we have cow. You have recommended both a reduced central administration end lump-sum appropriations to the regents. Isn't this a contradiction? Exon: No, I think that's very consistent. The regents are elected and they're supposed to represent the people in their districts. Some of them think their sole responsibility is to the university-its wants and its needs. The majority of the board members act as cheerlead ers for increased spending. Neither the governor nor the Legislature should be telling the regents what to do. As governor, I was not elected to run the university, but I was elected to make recommendations. The regents, too, should come to understand that there are other functions of government which need attention. DN: If the regents were given a lump-sum appropria tion Bsd a request by both yourself and the LegiJature to reduce the central administration, would they da it? Exon: I don't know. That's a good point. I'm not try ing to be a dictator, but I have recommended drastic reductions in the central staff. Money the regents spend on central administration is money they won't have to spend elsewhere. DN: Can the university ed.thrccgh the budget, to psxt the central sdmidirstion if they don want to? -4. . y . V0 t 1 1 ,;,v ' '( Daily Nabra&an photo Nebraska Governor J. James Exon mo Exon: I cant answer that. The matter is being tested in the courts. (A lawsuit is on appeal to determine whether the Legislature or the regents have ultimate con trol over the university). It may well be that the regents, in their wisdom, decide they must have that central staff. I don't agree, but I dont think it's proper for me to say "yu nt" to the regents. I will say that on capital construction, though. I ques tion the wisdom of the regents in going along with every whim that comes along in capital construction for the past few years. The regents have not properly set priorities for spending and that has hurt education and research. DN: YouVe recommended that the regents have a staff of their own. Why? Exon: The individual regents are put in a very diffi cult position. They are busy men in their own fields. The regents dont have the opportunity to set priorities. There have been cases when the budget package hasnt been presented to them until August. The NU budget is very complicated and represents a lot of money. Fve budgeted for seven years and it would be impossible for me to func tion on a budget in that amount of time. How is the regent, with as little time as he ha and no staff help, going to say "I think we should do this rather than this?" It's an impossibility. Can you imagine the directors of a large corporation with a $100 million budget trying to run an operation without any more information than the regents have? If they didnt have time or staff, they'd resign. When I cut recommendations I know why they're cut. DN: How did you scale down the requested $73 million for the Health, Physical Education aad Recrea tion (HPER) E3dg. at the tfeiveraty of Nebrrdsa at Omaha? Exon: I was not satisfied with the report that the budget staff gave me on HPER. In fact, the budget staff recommended against funding HPER again this year. HPER is a high priority need at UNO but not for $7 million. 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