UPDATE: University, lawmaker react to budget bill passage

UPDATE:

On Tuesday, the Nebraska Legislature gave a $9.3 billion budget bill the final okay.

Part of it includes a $51 million increase to the state’s property tax credit fund.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan said that’s a plus, but that she would like the legislature to spend more time looking over the budget in the future.

“I would like to see the process change a little bit, where there’s more coordination actually between the other committees and the appropriations committee,” Linehan said.  “It’s just too much for us to look at for 10 days.”

She said it even made her hesitant to vote for the final passage.

One organization that’s satisfied with the outcome is the University of Nebraska.

University officials said it would allow them to continue to provide a high–quality education at an affordable price.

“At the end of the day, this budget — if passed, if supported by the governor — will put us in a very strong position to continue to keep our tuition rate increases very competitive when compared to other Big Ten or other peer-like institutions,” chief financial officer Chris Kabourek said.

Gov. Ricketts still has to sign off on the budget bill.

NU said if he does, they won’t have to look at as many cuts in the university’s budget as they have in the past.

But that’s not to say they won’t be seeing any cuts.

“The board will work with university management in discussing how we cover any gaps that we made,” Kabourek said.  “That could either be through further cuts or it may be through, hopefully, modest tuition increases.”

NU said as soon as the bill is passed, they’ll begin looking at what they think the university needs in terms of tuition increase.  They said they don’t have an idea of how much that would be yet.

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One organization that’s singing their praises is the University of Nebraska.

NU chief financial officer Chris Kabourek said it allows them to continue to provide a high–quality education at an affordable price.

“At the end of the day, this budget — if passed — will put us in a very strong position to continue to keep our tuition rate increases very competitive,” Kabourek said.

The Gov. Pete Ricketts still has to sign off on the budget bill.  The university said if he does, they won’t have to look at as many cuts in the university’s budget as they have in the past.

But that’s not to say they won’t  be seeing any cuts.

“The board will work with university management in discussing how we cover any gaps that we made,” Kabourek said.  “That could either be through further cuts or it may be through, hopefully, modest tuition increases.”

NU said as soon as the bill is passed, they’ll begin looking at what they think they need in terms of tuition increases.

They said they don’t have an idea of how much that would be yet