University of Missouri pushes for budget increase, highlights priorities at alumni forum
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone County's delegation to Jefferson City talked on Thursday about how future budget cuts might affect the University of Missouri.
The Boone County Mizzou Alumni Association hosted the forum, to discuss how lawmakers might support higher education and the university.
The 23rd annual event hosted at Grand Cru Restaurant in Columbia is designed to give elected leaders a chance to hear the University of Missouri’s biggest priorities and share their ideas about how they plan to support higher education.
“Not all alums are willing to participate in the political process, and I understand that it’s a little convoluted, and sometimes nasty. But the university is interested in listening to alums about what we feel the priorities of the university should be,” event chair Wally Pfeffer said. “The one thing that has been a constant is that Mun Choi has been here for almost 10 years. That has been a constant with our relationships with the general assembly, and whoever is down there. And he’s done a masterful job of building those relationships and taking care of the issues important to them.”
UM System President Mun Choi addressed the alumni in attendance and said that the university is better off than it was when he first started in March 2017. The school was in the midst of budget cuts, low enrollment, and complaints from students about outdated dorms. Choi added that local apartment owners were also frustrated with the declining number of students in Columbia.
Nearly eight years later, he says the atmosphere is completely different; but there is still work to be done.
“We’re hearing from business owners how much they appreciate what this university does for the community, university and the state,” Choi told the crowd.
According to Choi, the university is seeking a core budget increase from the state. He listed the Memorial Stadium Centennial Project and Next-Gen Research Reactor as some of the biggest priorities for the university. MU will also be requesting $5 million from the state as a permanent addition to the work they do that reaches all 114 counties across Missouri.
Six elected officials from the Missouri Legislature were in attendance, including three new members: Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) and Reps. Gregg Bush (D-Columbia) and John Martin (R-Columbia).
While they each shared a passion for MU, their ideas for how best to support it varied.
Webber and Bush expressed concerns over how the state will fund the university under Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe’s plan to cut taxes.
“There’s bills to eliminate property tax, there’s bills to eliminate every single tax that we have in this state. I don’t like paying taxes. Nobody likes paying taxes, and I understand it. But it is important for this community that we have revenue to fund things like higher education and our public schools. the first cuts they make are to higher education,” Webber told the alumni and lawmakers in attendance.
Martin was much more optimistic in saying the new tax structures would provide incentives for businesses to come to Missouri and make the government more efficient and use the saving to help higher education.
“We always need to be looking at government are there ways we can make it more efficient? So I think there are areas in our state budget that do need to be trimmed,” Martin said.
Democratic Reps. Adrian Plank, David Tyson Smith and Kathy Steinhoff, all of Columbia, also spoke on Thursday night. A recurring message from each lawmaker included building collaborations and connections in Jefferson City to help make the university better.
