AUSTIN, July 25 - State leaders have bowed to pressure from border legislators and college presidents, among others, and will now look at ways of reinstating $154 million in community college funding vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry.

Lt. David Dewhurst said Wednesday that the Legislative Budget Board was the appropriate avenue to restore funding before fiscal year 2009, when the cuts were due to kick in. College presidents had warned that the cuts would lead to tuition increases, local tax increases or restricted enrollment.

Dewhurst also announced he was setting up a working group of senators to find a longer term solution and prepare recommendations for the 2009 legislative session. Sens. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, two of the most outspoken critics of the veto, will be on the working group, Dewhurst said.

In a letter to senators, Dewhurst acknowledged that Perry’s veto was “a huge cut” to the budget of community colleges. He also said he agreed with Perry’s rationale for the veto, which was that health insurance benefits for community college employees be paid in the same proportion of state and local funds as that employee’s salary.

“I agree something must be done to ensure that all universities and community colleges are treated consistently, but I don’t want to see drastic measures being implemented, such as raising local taxes, increasing tuition or restricting enrollment,” Dewhurst wrote.

Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody said Perry “welcomes input from lawmakers and has already begun working with the Higher Education Coordinating Board and community college leaders ... to work toward a solution to meet the needs of our colleges.”

She added that Perry has continuously proposed additional funding for community colleges. “However, he wants to ensure that solutions are proposed within the spirit of the law,” Moody said.

The presidents of border community colleges have led the protests against Perry’s veto.

South Texas College President Shirley Reed said the veto would cost her college about $4 million. STC has campuses in McAllen, Weslaco and Rio Grande City. Reed said there were not too many options to plug the gap. “It’s either going to be on the backs of our taxpayers or on the backs of our students,” Reed said.

El Paso Community College President Richard Rhodes calculated that Perry’s veto would cost the institution $6 million. In a letter to Perry, Rhodes said the veto came as a “financial kick in the stomach.”

Laredo Community College calculated that the veto would cost the institution $3.3 million. In a letter to Perry, LCC Board President Pete Saenz Jr. and LCC President-elect Dr. Juan L. Maldonado said impact of the veto would be huge.

“This dramatic loss in state funds strikes a devastating blow to the taxpaying citizens of our district and the employees of our college district,” Saenz and Maldonado wrote.

“Your veto will cripple our community college’s ability to continue making strides in improving our citizens’ level of education and ability to compete in the workforce for livable wages, not to mention the impact it will have on the health and well-being of our employees and their families. The impact on our students, who already struggle financially in their dream of achieving a higher education, will be equally devastating.”

Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, was one of the first senators to call on Dewhurst to get the LBB to reinstate the $154 million to the community colleges. The LBB is headed by Perry, Dewhurst, and House Speaker Tom Craddick.

 In a June 21 letter to Dewhurst, Lucio said: “It is my hope that under your leadership, and that of your colleagues on the budget board, an expedited solution can be developed to assist local communities throughout the state.”

Asked by the Brownsville Herald at the time whether Perry would agree to the LBB transferring money to offset the veto, Perry spokesman Robert Black said: “Slim to none.”

Since then there have been a howl of protests from college presidents across the state. Legislators, who claim they were blindsided by Perry’s veto, have stood with their college presidents.

In a hard-hitting op-ed, Zaffirini, chair of the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee, said that to put the impact of Perry's veto into perspective, the money cut was more than the total new dollars appropriated to community colleges this biennium for operations and instruction.

“This unwarranted and unexpected action will not only negatively affect our community colleges' efforts to achieve the goals of Closing the Gaps, but also severely strain their resources,” Zaffirini wrote.

“The grim reality is that to make up for this lost funding, community colleges will either have to raise local property taxes, increase tuition, reduce services or, sadly, do all three. Any of these options negatively will affect their ability to serve students who typically have the fewest resources to attend college. The worst result is that many students may be forced to drop out of college because of the governor's actions.”

Hinojosa also wrote a strongly-worded op-ed criticizing Perry’s veto. In an interview with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Hinojosa said Perry’s claim that lawmakers ignored his warnings about a possible veto was “baloney.”

On Wednesday, Hinojosa said he welcomed Dewhurst’s move to reinstate the vetoed funds.

“South Texas welcomes the news that the Lt. Governor intends to bring together the appropriate stakeholders and work towards a solution to this crisis,” Hinojosa said.

“As a member of the working group, I urge him to convene the group sooner rather than later so that we can assure middle-class families and their communities that they will not face local tax hikes, tuition increases, or cuts in education programs at their junior colleges.”

Hinojosa added that he was looking forward to meeting with his Senate colleague soon, “so that we can restore the funding as it was appropriated in the budget and let our community colleges get back to their mission of helping students prepare for their futures.”

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, was also highly critical of Perry’s veto. In a terse letter to Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, Shapleigh warned that rather than looking to expand access to higher education in my community, El Paso Community College was now being forced to “scramble” to maintain the current level of service provided to students. 
 
Shapleigh asked Paredes to explain what community colleges are supposed to do in response to the veto. “In El Paso, more tuition, more cuts to services, or more taxes are not viable options,” Shapleigh wrote.