The president of Western Kentucky University warned of layoffs and program eliminations in testimony before state lawmakers Thursday in Frankfort.
Governor Matt Bevin’s proposed budget would cut higher education funding by 4.5 percent for the remainder of this year, and nine percent for the next two years. Dr. Gary Ransdell says that’s hard for him to explain to campus faculty and staff.
"It's one thing for the past eight years when we were getting our budgets cut. We were in a recession and the state had declining revenues," Ransdell told WKU Public Radio. "State revenues are up significantly this year and the consensus forecast for the next biennium is a significant increase in state revenues, and we're still cutting higher education."
The state’s public colleges and universities have lost more than $173 million since 2008. President Ransdell says it’s frustrating that nationally, most states are re-investing in higher education while Kentucky is “re-trenching further.”
Governor Bevin says the cuts to state agencies are needed to help fully fund Kentucky’s public pension systems.
