Officials: Higher ed needs its own stabilization fund

Officials from the UI and BSU say it’s time for Idaho to look into a stabilization fund for higher education, to protect colleges and universities from big budget hits from year to year. “We need to get away from this thing of higher ed essentially being the savings account that we use to balance the budget,” said Marty Peterson, special assistant to UI President Duane Nellis. Said former House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, now with BSU, “There ought to be some way we can identify a revenue stream.”