Alumni Association | UA Foundation

AdvoCATS Update

Feb-Mar, 2009

'09 BUDGET CUTS UA BY 13.2%

Thank you to all who responded to our request to contact legislators protesting the outrageous initial FY 2009 budget proposal. Although the cuts to the system were ultimately still huge, the devastating blows that were first proffered were avoided. The large public outcry protesting those cuts made the difference.

We still face prospects of cuts for 2010 that have been proposed at $388M. To prevent that number from sticking, we must demonstrate our gratitude to those who helped in this round and then plan to push back again against anticipated cuts for next year. And, creating a friend in the Governor's office will be key, as it has in the past.

To begin, we owe a note of gratitude to two Republicans in the Senate and the Democrats in both houses who rejected the cuts entirely by voting against the final '09 budget. Those names and contact information follow. Please take a moment to send them a note of thanks. We hope to add more Republicans to those numbers to stave off the even larger cuts threatened for 2010.

[If you prefer to limit your contacts, sending a thank you to the two Republicans listed below and Democratic leadership in both Houses -- House Minority Leader David Lujan and Senate Minority Leader Jorge Garcia -- will suffice.]

Please send a quick note of thanks to:

Senator Carolyn Allen

Senator Jay Tibshraeny

And for the Democrats:

Senator Paula Aboud

Senator Amanda Aguirre

Senator Manny Alvarez

Senator Meg Burton Cahill

Senator Ken Cheuvront

Senator Jorge Luis Garcia

Senator Albert Hale

Senator Leah Landrum Taylor

Senator Linda Lopez

Senator Debbie McCune Davis

Senator Richard Miranda

Senator Rebecca Rios

Representative Ed Ableser

Representative David Bradley

Representative Jack Brown

Representative Olivia Cajero Bedford

Representative Chad Campbell

Representative Cloves Campbell

Representative Tom Chabin

Representative Christopher Deschene

Representative Steve Farley

Representative Pat Fleming

Representative Martha Garcia

Representative Matt Heinz

Representative Phil Lopes

Representative David Lujan

Representative Barbara McGuire

Representative Eric Meyer

Representative Robert Meza

Representative Ben Miranda

Representative Lynne Pancrazi

Representative Daniel Patterson

Representative David Schapira

Representative Kyrsten Sinema

Representative Rae Waters

Representative Nancy Young Wright

Additionally, majority leadership in the House followed through with their pledge for more transparency by keeping the universities informed as to anticipated cuts. They were also instrumental in reducing the cuts from the original proposals. And two Tucson Republicans, Senator Jonathan Paton and Representative Vic Williams, worked to resolve several UA specific issues.

The final outcome in detail is provided by Greg Fahey in his Legislative Update.

Thank you.

Charlene