What's at stake?
-- Higher education
"When TABOR was enacted, roughly 25 percent
of the state budget went to funding higher education. It is
now under 10 percent. . . . Without TABOR reform there is
only one result -- the end of state funding for higher education
by the end of the decade." -- Michael Carrigan, University
of Colorado Regent (ColoradoPols,
March 2005)
Higher education not only helps young Montanans
achieve their dreams, it also has a crucial role to play in
improving Montana's economy. But CI-97 (SOS) threatens the
future of our public colleges and universities.
Lessons from Colorado
Colorado's version of CI-97, called TABOR, has helped cause
significant funding cuts in the state's public colleges and
universities.
Between 1992 and 2004, Colorado dropped from
35th to 48th in the nation in higher education funding as
a share of personal income.
Under TABOR, higher education funding per resident
student dropped by 31 percent (adjusted for inflation).
Funding per resident student in Colorado is
now lower than at any time in the past 20 years, (adjusted
for inflation).
In 1992, Colorado spent close to the national
average on higher education by this measure; by 2004, it spent
just 57 percent of the national average.
Read
more about TABOR’s impacts on higher education in Colorado
Read
what Colorado business leaders say about higher education
cuts
What's At
Stake:
Senior citizens
Public
health and safety
Local
communities
Jobs and economic
development
K-12 schools
Higher
education
Montana's
most vulnerable citizens
Agriculture |
