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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Big decisions loom on higher ed funding…

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, at its early-morning briefing on Friday, discusses higher education budgets. In the foreground are co-chairs Maxine Bell, left, and Dean Cameron, right; legislative budget analyst Paul Headlee is presenting the figures to the joint committee. (Betsy Russell)
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, at its early-morning briefing on Friday, discusses higher education budgets. In the foreground are co-chairs Maxine Bell, left, and Dean Cameron, right; legislative budget analyst Paul Headlee is presenting the figures to the joint committee. (Betsy Russell)

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has big decisions coming up this morning, as it sets the higher education budgets - those for the state's colleges and universities and community colleges. The pressure is on to make deeper cuts, because thus far, the budgets JFAC has set have fallen behind its target for additional cuts beyond the governor's recommendations. Colleges and universities, which have suffered big cuts already in recent years, asked for $8.6 million more next year to cover increased enrollment, but Gov. Butch Otter didn't recommend any funding for that; instead, he called for further cuts. Here, legislative budget analyst Paul Headlee presents the figures to JFAC during its early-morning briefing before the joint committee heads to its 8 a.m. meeting.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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