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Higher-ed budget passes But governor will veto unless financing made clear By PETER WONG SALEM -- Oregon's public universities, including Southern Oregon University, are only a signature away from receiving their first substantial increase in state aid in a decade. But a spokesman for Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber said Wednesday it still faces a veto unless Republican legislative leaders show him how they propose to pay for that increase. A 27-1 vote by the Senate Wednesday sent the budget to Kitzhaber. The near-unanimous vote for it was in contrast to the House's division along party lines last week. "It is a spending increase that is not reconciled with a balanced-budget plan," said Kitzhaber's spokesman, Bob Applegate, after the vote. "The governor has not changed his position that he will veto this bill because there is no demonstration of how the increases would be paid for." The higher education budget goes to Kitzhaber about the same time that the Legislature will receive its next forecast of state income. Friday's forecast will provide the basis for the Legislature's final decisions on the 1999-2001 budget. Kitzhaber asked for $76 million beyond what the university system needs to maintain programs for the next two years. Republican legislative leaders raised the proposed contribution from the tax-supported general fund to $630 million, $15 million more than Kitzhaber requested. Applegate said the dispute should not overshadow the good news for the universities. "No matter what happens this session, higher education is going to get its best budget this decade, largely because of the foundation we laid in the new budget model," he said. "So we are not against spending more money for higher education." The budget continues a freeze on undergraduate tuition for two more years, lets the seven campuses keep tuition generated by their students, links future state aid to their enrollments, and restores some of their program cuts in the past decade. "With this new model that higher education has brought forth, the result is going to be a better education for our children," said Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, who advocated an even greater increase. "That is what this budget is about. It is not about money." In contrast to their counterparts in the House last week, minority Democrats in the Senate ended up voting for the budget. But several echoed last week's complaints that majority Republicans have not shown an overall budget-balancing plan for what might be cut to offset the increases for higher education. "Once again, we are shooting in the dark," said Sen. Tony Corcoran, D-Cottage Grove. For SOU, the higher budget would continue an undergraduate tuition freeze at $1,015 per term, its 1996-97 level. It also would raise campus spending next year by slightly more than the 4.3 percent in Kitzhaber's original request. The system's budget from all sources in the next two years is $2.35 billion, which includes tuition, federal and private grants, and charges for services such as dormitories. Another $100 million from the tax-supported general fund is in a separate budget, not yet approved, for the Oregon State University Extension Service, agricultural experiment stations and the forest research laboratory. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA