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Media Services LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation has endorsed the Higher Education Bond issue that will be in front of voters in the November general election. Farm Bureau’s board of directors chose to support the bond issue at a recent meeting, referring to policy adopted by the organization’s delegate body during its 2005 state convention. The organization also supported a similar bond issue, Referred Question 2, which appeared on a special election ballot in late 2005. “We believe it is important to reemphasize our support for the higher education bond issue,” said Stanley Reed, president of Arkansas Farm Bureau. “We hope to raise public awareness of the importance of this ballot issue.” Reed, a cotton farmer from Marianna who is in his third year as president of Arkansas Farm Bureau, also serves as chairman of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. He noted that Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas all recently have allocated large sums for their higher education systems — from Tennessee’s $450 million for 2005–07 to a $1 billion bond issue passed in the state of Texas. Reed said Arkansas’ proposed higher ed bond issue would allow the state to build academic facilities for future generations with today’s funds. “We are highly supportive of using bonds as a revenue source that can be invested in higher education projects without increasing taxes.” The higher education bond initiative failed last December, Reed said, partly because its supporters didn’t communicate the state’s education needs and partly due to the public’s confusion. “We believe the primary concern of voters in the last special election was over the perpetual funding authority the proposed interstate highway bond issue would have provided the Highway Commission,” he said. “That concern ultimately brought down the higher education bond issue, even though it did not — and does not currently — carry the perpetual funding authority of the other proposal. “This time, the higher education bond issue won’t be mistakenly coupled with any other funding proposals. We believe most Arkansans will be supportive of this issue. If passed, the measure will allow the Arkansas Development Finance Authority to issue up to $250 million in one-time general obligation bonds to be used for debt reduction and new programs. Revenues from the bonds will fund needed technology and facility improvements at state colleges and universities. In 2004–05, Arkansas’ higher education funding per full-time student was its lowest since 1979–80. Meanwhile, since 1990 the state’s college/university enrollment is up 63.5 percent and climbing. “One of the best investments we can make in Arkansas’ future is improving education,” Reed says. “Colleges and universities throughout the state have been hard-pressed to find funding for infrastructure needs, like classrooms and technology projects. “We already know the difficulties that increasing tuition creates for Arkansas families — and by using bond-generated revenue for building and technology needs, schools can make the needed improvements without raising tuition for this purpose.” The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board has proposed the distribution of $150 million between two-year colleges and four-year universities. Two-year colleges are projected to receive $50 million for projects, with four-year schools receiving $100 million. Roughly 10 percent of the $100 million to be allocated to four-year schools will be used on technology infrastructure and connecting to the e-corridor national high-speed internet network for research. The remaining $100 million will be used for debt restructuring.  Have a comment? Please e-mail us. ŠThe Voice 2006 Revised 09/13/2006 11:05:03 PM— http://www.uamont.edu/Organizations/TheVoice/4_5/farm.htm |
