The message found below was distributed via e-mail to TCCTA members on Monday, Feb. 28. If you did not receive this message, please read this post carefully and respond accordingly. If you received the earlier e-mail and have not responded, please act as soon as possible.
TCCTA leaders met with members of the Texas House of Representatives and their staffs on Tuesday, March 1, stressing the professional and instructional impact of HB 1, the present House version of the appropriations bill.
A dire situation exists for community colleges if the current House budget is enacted by both chambers of the Texas Legislature.
Below is the Feb. 28 message.
To all TCCTA members:
TCCTA has learned that the House of Representatives plans to present its appropriations bill on the floor for a vote very soon. Normally this is done much later in the Session, but the budget crisis is driving a host of highly exceptional contingencies.
Association lobbyist Beaman Floyd urges all members to contact their representative as soon as possible. Contact information is provided at the conclusion of this message.
TCCTA believes that individually written e-mails are far superior to petitions or perfunctory online responses. Please compose a brief statement, using any pertinent suggestions given below at your discretion, as well as any college-specific information you may have. Please do not “copy and paste” any language from TCCTA, as lawmakers and staffs might infer that the constituent devoted a trivial amount of effort, and this approach may lessen the impact of your communication.
Before detailing any budget problems, be sure to thank your representative for his or her hard work and dedication on behalf of the people of Texas. It is extremely important to be polite and constructive at all times.
Colleges are presently contending with reduced budgets in a variety of ways. If your school has experienced, or likely will experience, disruptions in fulfilling its educational mission, please inform your representative with as much precision as possible of the problems. Try to put a human face on the practical results of looming budget cuts, especially for students.
KEY ISSUES TO ADDRESS
(1) The proposed elimination of four community colleges. The House version of the appropriations bill provides no funding for four community colleges (Brazosport College, Frank Phillips College, Odessa College, and Ranger College). Any savings from eliminating these schools assumes the affected students would not attend college at all. If such students did manage to attend a nearby college or university, the cost to the state would be the same, or higher in the case of universities. If you are an educator at one of these four schools, by all means say so. Regardless of location, all community and technical college educators should point to the Senate version of the appropriations bill, which includes funding for all four institutions.
(2) Drastic cuts in funding for health benefits. The most striking budget cuts for Texas community colleges are in the area of health benefits. The House version of the appropriations bill contains a breathtaking reduction of 82 percent, which would truncate the state’s historical commitment, reduce community colleges to second-class participation in the ERS Group Benefits Program, and inflict irreparable structural damage to the revenue stream of two-year schools. Colleges are required to provide such benefits to faculty and administrators. Hence the instructional mission of all institutions would suffer, and the Closing the Gaps program would be jeopardized, with no advantage to the state whatsoever. Talented educators are recruited and hired with the firm understanding that the state provides these benefits. Now the Legislature is poised to change the rules in the middle of the game. As TCCTA members, we understand the rise in health care costs and are prepared to help bear the burden. But we deserve the same level of state commitment as that provided to other participants in the Group Benefits Program. As a remedy, lawmakers should consider using a mere 2.6 percent of the Rainy Day Fund, which would eliminate the disparity completely.
(3) Cuts in funding for TRS and ORP. The proposed House budget greatly reduces the state’s contribution to the TRS and ORP retirement programs for community college educators. As with health benefits, colleges will be required to make up the difference, draining revenue from the instructional mission of each school. Educators are also recruited under an assumption of robust retirement programs, with ample state participation. The House budget would diminish each institution’s ability to seek and retain the best faculty.
(4) Cuts in formula funding. Regarding funding for the instructional formula, Texas community colleges presently enroll over 70 percent of new students and over 75 percent of the state’s freshmen and sophomores. To fulfill the Closing the Gaps initiative, the most vital objective in formula funding is to provide revenue for growth in the student population. The House budget as currently written does not account for this -- indeed, even with double-digit enrollment growth at community colleges, the House bill would cut formula funding by seven percent. Without funding for growth, gaps in participation and success cannot be closed, and will get wider.
(5) Incentive funding. TCCTA agrees with the Texas Association of Community Colleges that any incentive funding should be supplemental to the funding formula, not part of it. No one wants students to succeed more than their teachers. Professional decisions by faculty regarding student grades should never be influenced by the way a college receives its appropriation. For more information about incentive funding proposals, including a proposal by Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, please refer to the TCCTA blog. If you receive a reply from your State Representative, please forward it to the TCCTA state office.
IMPORTANT: Do not use college equipment or institutional e-mail accounts in contacting legislators.
Members of the House can be contacted by using the "Who Represents Me?" link provided by the Texas Legislature. By typing in your home address and/or zip code, and then clicking on the link to each legislator, access to their e-mail addresses is obtained easily.
More helpful information, including the "Guide to Political Participation" is available on the TCCTA "Legislative Resources" page.
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