The state budget proposed by the House Budget Committee Chairman would decrease state aid for the University of Missouri System by more than $8-million dollars.  Some state lawmakers continue to criticize the University for its response to protests last fall and what they call a lack of leadership.

Representative Tom Flanigan (courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Flanigan (courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The reduction would come from two places in the UM System budget for the year that begins July 1. $402,059 would equal the salaries for Professor Melissa Click, one division chair in communications, and for the dean of arts and science. The rest of the reduction targets the System’s administration including the board of curators, the president’s office, and other multi-campus functions. The $7.6-million for those is about half what the System reported for Fiscal Year 2016.

A House budget subcommittee earlier this month voted to eliminate the increase in performance-based state aid for MU that Governor Jay Nixon proposed in his budget – a $26.8-million increase over the current fiscal year. University of Missouri leaders told the House Budget Committee last week that a drop in enrollment could cost the University as much as $20-million.

Budget Committee Chairman Tom Flanigan said in a statement that his proposal does not only make reductions, “about Dr. Melissa Click and her actions.

“For several months legislators have had stories relayed to us from current and past students, staff, and faculty of a vast bureaucracy that rivals the Pentagon in terms of red tape and delays. Additionally, appropriators are deeply concerned with the faculty waiver process, how conflicts of interest are addressed, and the inability to terminate employees who participate in conduct unbecoming the University of Missouri and our state. The committee substitute ensures administrators, not students, feel the pain of these budget actions.

Further budget actions may still await the University of Missouri as changes can be made in both House and Senate committees and as both chambers move to third read House Bill 2003. The cuts we have put forward are intended to send a strong message to the administration without harming our students, who deserve better,” said Flanigan.