TO: University of Idaho Alumni
FROM: Scott Green, President
DATE: April 12, 2022
SUBJECT: U of I Finds Support in Legislative Session

University of Idaho Alumni,

As promised, I am writing to update you on this legislative session. Although conflict entrepreneurs, who make their money by sowing unwarranted fear among taxpayers and voters, tried to derail the conversation about the value of Idaho universities, most of our legislators understood the truth and passed the higher education bill that, while not as generous as what other state agencies received, was a better result than anything appropriated in recent years. It is refreshing to see cooler heads prevail and not be swayed by half-truths and scare tactics. This year we got a clean up or down vote in the House. A recap of how each representative voted seems to show whether each supports higher education or not.

Regarding the specifics of the higher education funding bill, overall, the University of Idaho received a 6% increase – or $5.7 million – over last year. Most importantly, the state assumed full responsibility in compensation for our employees. In recent years, the state supported only those employees funded on general education dollars, requiring universities to raise tuition to match the increase for all employees funded from dedicated sources. At the U of I, this is about half our employees. This year we are grateful to the legislature as they will provide an overall 5% increase in the general education salary pool, the first time that has occurred since 2010.

The legislature agreed with Gov. Brad Little that education and research around nuclear energy is important to our future. We join proudly with Idaho State University to share a $1.1 million appropriation to develop programs supporting the newest generation of modular reactors. There is no doubt we will continue to produce the nuclear engineers to lead our state and our country in this area.

The legislature also increased funding for the James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research. This important public policy research arm of the U of I provides invaluable analysis to those who set policy – including our state legislature. The $285,000 increase will allow this busy center to continue conducting high quality, bipartisan research for the state’s most pressing issues.

We are pleased with the allocation from the permanent building fund. While we only received $900,000 of the $45 million awarded to higher education institutions for capital projects, preliminary numbers indicate we will receive around $50 million of the substantial funds set aside by the state for deferred maintenance. Given the age of our campus, I cannot tell you how important this infusion is to the health of the institution. We are very grateful to the governor and legislature for this support.

As the state’s land-grant institution, we are also responsible for a number of programs outside the higher education and permanent building fund budgets.

The state does not have enough medical doctors, so the legislature passed a resolution to increase the number of seats in Idaho WWAMI, our M.D. partnership with the highly ranked University of Washington School of Medicine, from 40 to 50 over the next few years. Together with a budget of $6.97 million (+1.4%), they passed a partial tuition payback requirement for those who end up practicing out of state.

The legislature also passed budgets for other statewide programs for WIMU (veterinary education partnership with Washington State University) of $2.25 million (+4.3%), $1.53 million (+5.5%) for Forest Utilization Research, our forestry research line, and $1.23 million (+9.0%) for the Idaho Geological Survey, which is helping the state identify earthquake and landslide risks. As part of our land-grant mission, the U of I partners with the state and counties to provide services to its citizens through our 42 Extension offices. These Extension offices help farmers and ranchers with plant and animal health, administer 4-H activities throughout the state, provide personal finance, food safety and master gardener classes, and other services responsive to local needs. The legislature appropriated $35.8 million (+9.5%) to this outreach for FY23, as well as $2.8 million in additional FY22 one-time funding in support of the Parma Research and Extension Center.

The conversation around higher education in our state remains challenging as there are those who believe providing a welcoming environment and tools for the success of ALL students are threats. There are others that knowingly promote a false narrative for their own monetary and political gain. These narratives do nothing to support students who are committed to learning and contributing to our state, its industries and its economic health. It does nothing for Idaho businesses successfully competing in a global marketplace. It does nothing to address the shortage of educated workers. We are grateful that our governor and legislators recognized that they were being played by the special interests and stepped up to support higher education. We will continue to tell the stories of the amazing work our students, faculty and staff do each and every day for the economic and civic good of our state. We are Vandals, we are brave, we are bold, and we are proud of our role in Idaho, for Idaho.

Go Vandals!

Scott Green
President

president@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/president