Monday, March 02, 2009
Chamber Supports Higher Education Funding
Maryland Chamber Vice President of Government Affairs Ron Wineholt urged members of the House Appropriation and Ways & Means Committees to support legislation that would continue to dedicate a portion of corporate income taxes to higher education and set a series of goals for funding higher education in Maryland.
“The availability of a well-educated workforce is essential to Maryland’s economy,” Wineholt said. “We support predictable and sustainable funding for higher education.”
During the 2007 special session, the corporate income tax rate was increased and 6 percent of the the corporate income tax revenue was dedicated to a higher education investment fund for two years. HB 308 and HB 789 would make the 6 percent distribution permanent, rather than redirecting those corporate income tax revenues to the general fund beginning in fiscal year 2010.
HB 789 would also implement the recommendations of the Commission to Develop the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education. The Maryland Chamber supported the creation of this commission, and former Board Member Larry Shulman, President of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., represented the Maryland Chamber on the Commission. The bill would:
- Set a 10-year plan for state funding goals for public 4-year higher education institutions and need-based financial aid at the 75th percentile of the per student funding by comparable institutions in states with which Maryland principally competes for employers
- Set a goal for in-state tuition at or below the the 50th percentile of such states.
- Make many other changes to funding goals for higher education, scholarships, accountability, capital projects, and historically black institutions.
The Maryland Chamber believes that it is important to set the target for appropriate levels of higher education funding. Unlike an earlier study reagrding K-12 education, this bill sets goals to be funded as revenues are available—it doesn’t mandate spending levels with no identified revenue source.
For more information, contact Ron Wineholt at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
