Please do this tonight! The bill that would stabilize State funding for CUNY and SUNY is on Governor Cuomo’s desk right now. The signals we have received from Albany are that he will NOT sign it. The Governor has until December 11–eight days from now-to act, but he could act on the bill any day before that date. Please send him a message right now-with just a couple of clicks-letting him know how important it is that he sign the bill. Click here to send a letter; and if you have a Facebook page, post the action there.
The “Maintenance of Effort” (MOE) bill would require the State to fund predictable increases to operating costs at CUNY and SUNY for such expenses as utilities, rent and salaries. It would ensure that tuition hikes are used to enhance education at CUNY and SUNY, rather than to offset underfunding from the State. And it would fund future years of collective bargaining increases in our salaries, allowing CUNY to retain and attract the faculty and staff our students deserve.
Governor Cuomo himself said that the tuition increases should make “it possible for public university systems to add faculty, reduce class size, expand program offerings, and improve academic performance.” But his budgets have not funded operating cost increases, and CUNY has been forced to use tuition hikes ($300 per year) to fill holes he left in its budgets. The hole this year is $51 million.
We need to make sure that the Governor hears loud and clear that the people of New York expect him to sign the MOE bill. Do your part to deliver that message by sending a letter-and then, if you have a Twitter account, clicking here to send the messages below. And follow the union @PSC_CUNY.
Click on the following link to encourage friends on Facebook to sign the letter. Thank you-and thank you to the thousands of members who have made our rallies and meetings this fall such a success. We can win this fight.
In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
PSC President
