MnSCU, U of M don't expect cuts to be restored

Minnesota's two public higher education systems don't believe the state Supreme Court's ruling against Gov. Pawlenty's unallotment will change their budgets.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the University of Minnesota each took a $50 million cut in funding when the governor balanced the state's budget last year. The Supreme Court has ruled the governor overstepped his authority when he unalloted $2.7 billion dollars in state funding.

The U of M's chief financial officer, Richard Pfutzenreuter, said they'll try to get some of that money back, but don't expect it will be restored.

"We'll go down there and make the case that $50 million is just a really bad thing for higher education," Pfutzenreuter said. "But we've also got to move on with our budget planning. It would be wonderful if some of that $50 million could come our way, but I'm not holding out much hope."

The University of Minnesota has already developed a budget that furloughs staff and reduces university spending to accommodate Pawlenty's cuts.