'Let's get it done'

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo President John B. Simpson called a news conference today to implore the New York State legislature to pass the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (PHEEIA) proposed in the governor's budget. Below is the statement he gave to members of the media.

Why have I called this press conference? Because our ability to complete UB 2020 is in serious jeopardy, and with this, the future of Buffalo and WNY is in jeopardy. UB 2020 is about excellence in education, it is about jobs, and it is about our community's well-being.

UB 2020 is WNY's strategy for its future.

It means 6,700 direct jobs, 20,000 construction jobs, and $2 billion in additional economic impact.

To do this, we need our elected officials in Albany to change policy, to let UB live by the same rules as virtually every other major public university in the U.S. These are nothing more than common-sense reforms.

The governor, the SUNY Chancellor and trustees are all behind these changes.

As Governor Paterson has said, these are "The Most Significant Public Higher Education Reforms in a Generation." These reforms are right now in the Executive Budget Bill, and they are called PHEEIA—the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act.

Last week, the Senate and the Assembly both passed their "budget resolutions." These are non-binding, but they give the public a sense of where each chamber stands at the start of negotiations with the Governor about the budget. It was a good news/bad news situation.

• The good news: thanks to the leadership of Senators Stachowski and Sampson , with the strong support of the WNY delegation, the Senate chose to include these reforms in its resolution. That was an important step forward, and we appreciate it.

• The bad news: the Assembly's budget resolution cut out these reforms.

• And more bad news: both chambers did not restore any funding for the public universities.

Here are the consequences that Albany is now forcing upon us by failing to give us the tools we need to complete UB2020:

• Those 6,700 direct new jobs at UB—gone

• 20,000 good paying construction and building jobs that would build UB 2020 –gone

• Nearly $2B more in economic impact for the region through the build-out of 2020—gone

• A future economy built on innovation like those seen in the Bay area, Seattle, North Carolina—gone

• Make no mistake: the future of Buffalo and UB that are at stake right now.

We recognize that New York has a huge deficit, and that money is not available. Yet the changes that we seek are policy, not financial. We are simply asking for the tools to help ourselves.

The key features of this legislation—these common-sense reforms—are:

• A predictable tuition plan that rightly differentiates the cost and quality of education at our research universities, like UB, and keeps the tuition our students pay right here in Buffalo; and

• Allows the ability to enter into partnerships to leverage private sector funding to create greater economic growth for Buffalo-Niagara"

IF WNY and SUNY do not get these reforms, we simply can not do WNY's UB 2020 plan

• That means our community doesn't get the jobs,

• And it means building the downtown Buffalo medical campus that is so crucial for UB2020 and for Buffalo's future is at risk

• YET WE IN WESTERN NEW YORK, I BELIEVE, CAN CHANGE THIS.

o we need to help the state leaders and the legislators to understand how important this is for our community

o We need them to understand that our community's plan—UB 2020—is in absolute jeopardy unless this legislation passes. Simply put, our community will not have the benefits of UB 2020 without this .

o We need to let our elected officials and all of Albany know that the community demands this. We need everyone in WNY to tell our elected officials that now is the time for action, and that we cannot let this moment pass. If it does, then our plan—which is about jobs, excellence in education, and our community's economic well-being—will be lost.

o We have come too far to lose these jobs and this plan. Our moment is now.

o After six years, we are so very close – let's get it done