University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto is warning lawmakers in Frankfort that Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's proposed higher education cuts would reverberate across campus, but the chief executive maintains the pension system is locked in the fight of its fiscal life and postsecondary institutions must bear some of the burden.
The governor's strategy for shoring up the poorly-funded retirement systems involves back-to-back 9 percent cuts for higher education in 2017 and 2018, topped off by a 4.5 percent reduction this year. The fallout, according to Capilouto, could range from forced tuition increases to an inability to attract and retain talented faculty.
"Even as big as we are, we can't easily absorb cuts of this magnitude and... this puts a chilling effect on our momentum and it signals that we're not worthy of investment," he said.
While Bevin acknowledges the belt-tightening will be painful, he says inaction by previous administrations has left his hands tied. For now, he's pledging to work with universities to make the cutbacks as "digestible" as possible over the next 30 months.
"We've been left with a financial mess the likes of which gives us no other alternative, none whatsoever," he told reporters Thursday.
Hesitant to endorse the across-the-board spending cuts, some House Democrats - including Speaker Greg Stumbo - have expressed serious concerns about the initial 4.5 percent reduction for most state agencies, even questioning Bevin's ability to implement them on executive authority.
Meanwhile, the governor's desire to phase in performance-based funding for universities is also prompting handwringing in committee, but Bevin appears undeterred. He says he will not sign any budget that does not move in that direction.
