In reacting the governor's address, Baehre said: "The Governor's proposed budget does make progress towards solving the fiscal crisis currently gripping the community colleges. As proposed, it will help to fill the operating deficits and redress two years of funding shortfalls that have contributed to our fiscal crisis.
"However, the extent of the fiscal crisis we confront is more than funding for operations. Capital funding for classrooms and technology is critical and failure to address this need could wipe out the progress on the operating side.
"At this point we have no indication of any effort to address the capital funding crisis that has forced increased costs on students through higher tuition and fees and driven restrictions to our programs.
"Affordability and accessibility to a community college education is at risk if adequate capital funding is not made available. Unlike other sectors of higher education, no significant capital dollars have been made available to the community colleges for nearly five years now.
"We cannot operate our institutions without adequate and sustained capital. Classrooms, technology and physical infrastructure are critical. Currently, there is an accumulation of more than $500 million statewide in desperately needed capital projects and the state's 50% cost share remains unfilled.
"The Governor has proposed an additional $2 million contribution to the capitol fund statewide. For HACC, that means that there will be no budget relief on the construction of the Select Medical Health Education Pavilion and the Grace Milliman Pollock Childcare and Early Childhood Education Center. These projects have been undertaken to meet the state's critical workforce needs in healthcare.
"In addition, the Lancaster Campus expansion, which was leased to accommodate the exponential growth in the county, will not see any budget relief for its lease payments.
"Because the of state's unfunded capital obligation, HACC faces a $2 million shortfall in capital funding this year and a $3 million shortfall next year.
"Again, we applaud this initial progress and we continue to be actively engaged in ongoing discussions with the Administration and the Legislature regarding the capital-funding crisis.
"Various remedies are being discussed, including legislation recently introduced by Representative Veon that would create a Capital Projects Fund to address the capital crisis."