Tell Senator Stavisky to Pass 281a, a Bill to Improve CUNY Funding

Albany is close to passing a bill critical for CUNY’s future. Please send a letter right now to give it the grassroots push it needs to become law. On Wednesday, June 9 the State Assembly passed A5370a, an act that would provide future funding for the PSC contract and ensure that tuition hikes go to improve education, not to cover unfunded mandatory university operating expenses. The Senate version of the bill, S281a, has cleared the Higher Education Committee, but as of Friday, June 12 has yet to clear the Senate Finance Committee. A5370a/S281a keeps the promise made to students in 2011 when lawmakers enacted five years of annual $300 tuition hikes. The hikes were supposed to fund additional faculty, course-offerings and student services for CUNY and SUNY. But the State has not funded routine inflationary cost increases for rent, utilities, supplies and equipment, and regular university expenses for fringe benefits and contractual salary steps.Without adequate State funding, CUNY has used tuition-hike dollars to cover the gap rather than improve education. A5370a/S281a would make it harder for the State to underfund CUNY by strengthening and making permanent the State’s “Maintenance of Effort” provisions for CUNY and SUNY. Send a letter today. And ask your colleagues to do the same.

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