BC3, others left hanging by state lawmakers
Lawmakers in Harrisburg have not yet passed legislation to release funds to the state Department of Education.
An article by Eddie Trizzino in the Thursday edition of the Eagle tells us the fight for those funds is on for Butler County Community College president Nick Neupauer.
“The community colleges, the 15 of us and the Commission for Community Colleges, are putting on a full-court press to receive these funds,” said Neupauer. “We are doing everything that we can as an institution to maintain normal operations protecting our students, faculty and staff.”
State funding to community colleges is usually released quarterly. BC3 hasn’t received a payment since June, Neupauer said, and another is not likely to be released now until March.
To bridge the gap, BC3 is reluctantly planning to draw on credit.
Jim Hrabosky, vice president for administration and finance at BC3, said “The only problem with that is interest rates aren’t 2% or 3% anymore. If we fully draw that down, we’ll be paying 9% or 10% to access these funds. That will cost the college about $30,000 a month.”
In other words, because lawmakers couldn’t put together a boilerplate funds release, BC3 may have to scrape together tens of thousands of dollars to pay down a credit debt that shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place.
Other gap assistance is on the way.
Kim Geyer, Butler County commissioner and a BC3 trustee, said recently money from the county has been fast tracked to BC3 and the Butler County Federated Library System, which is also feeling this pinch.
“The county has agreed to advance the contribution that would be in March to February to help the college,” Geyer said. “The county also contacted the Federated Library System to tell them the same.”
The state Senate will convene Monday, but fiscal code is not on its posted agenda. The state House has a non-voting session Sunday. The next noted session for both bodies is Jan. 2, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s website.
A recent article in Spotlight PA said the Democratic-controlled state House and GOP-led state Senate are holding up the funding amid a dispute about whether to create a taxpayer-funded school voucher program.
The question is: Why is this happening? Community colleges and libraries all across the state have been forced into a terrible financial situation, and for what? Over a vouchers dispute? Have a dispute about vouchers. Don’t leave the colleges and libraries hanging while you do.
– RJ
