Penn State, trustees’ support sought for Wolf budget

Penn State is in Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget for millions and millions of dollars.

A recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posting suggested the governor’s office is using the university’s trustees as a lobbying tool.

On Monday, the state Republican Party sent out links to Karen Langley’s “Early Returns” political blog from Friday. Langley said John Hanger, Wolf’s secretary of policy and planning, emailed the trustees, “encouraging the university to lobby for the governor’s proposed tax increases.”

The Republican Party used the incident as an opportunity to take a swing at the Democratic governor, who has been locked in a budget battle with the GOP-led legislature since last year. Pennsylvania has been without a budget since July, and things are getting heated since Wolf’s recent speech on his 2016 budget proposal.

“With two budget addresses under his belt we now see Gov. Wolf’s pattern as a ‘Different Kind of Governor,’ specifically make the case for a radically liberal agenda that is out of step with Pennsylvanians, first. Then when Democrats and Republicans reject that agenda, finish by threatening as many state-funded organizations as you can starting with higher education,” state Republican Party spokeswoman Megan Sweeney said.

“Last year, Tom Wolf’s top policy official tried to intimidate the board of governors of the State System of Higher Education. This year, the Wolf administration is trying to bully Penn State into getting behind major tax hikes on middle-class families,” she said. “The Wolf administration’s attempts to threaten universities such as Penn State is simply unacceptable. This is the type of bullying tactics that caused Pennsylvania’s schools and social services to suffer in the first place.”

Penn State did not necessarily feel threatened and bullied.

“President Barron articulated the university’s position, which is that Penn State’s history and that of all of the state-related universities is to be nonpartisan and to advocate for education, and higher education in particular,” said Lawrence Lokman, vice president of strategic communications. “We are pleased that the governor continues to acknowledge the importance of investing in Penn State.”

For the university, the bigger problem than the money for 2016-17 is that it still doesn’t have last year’s appropriation.

“Our focus ... remains on coping with the lingering current year budget stalemate, and to that end we are urging all parties to complete their work on the 2015-2016 commonwealth budget,” Lokman said. “The bottom line is that state support is an essential investment in student opportunity and success, and economic growth and development. We must find a resolution to the current impasse.”

The administration responded, but gave something closer to what has become its stock answer on budget questions rather than addressing the email itself.

“We need a real budget — one that is balanced, fixes the $2 billion deficit and invests in education at all levels. Gov. Wolf is fighting for increases in funding for the state-related universities, particularly after four years of cuts that have resulted in higher tuition costs,” said press secretary Jeff Sheridan.

“In order to turn the page of across the board cuts that have a devastating effect on our colleges, universities and students, we need sustainable revenue and not one-time fixes,” he said. “Investing in higher education is important to Gov. Wolf, but if the math does not add up, institutions of higher learning will not only miss out on additional funding increases, but they will likely again face massive cuts. This is why we need an honest, balanced budget that funds our schools.”

Penn State has not been opposed to appealing to others for support in the past.

At 2015 trustees meetings, university officials have heard about the potential of using Penn State’s 645,000 or so alumni as both a marketing tool, to promote the university, and as a lobbying instrument, to keep the needs of the Nittany Lions in the forefront of state legislators.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Penn State, trustees’ support sought for Wolf budget."