The state’s financial support for the UMaine System has declined precipitously over decades and in recent years the state appropriation and tuition have not kept pace with inflation. This has left our campuses with horrible options, including underpaying staff, cutting programs, laying off employees, and cuts through attrition. This needs to change.
Our University System is an economic driver for our state. Not only do our universities bring cutting-edge research and much-needed innovation to our state, but they also prepare students for careers and lives as well-rounded, well-educated citizens of our great state.
Tell your legislators it is time for the state to recognize the important role the universities play by funding them appropriately. Use this form to email your State Representative, State Senator, and members of the Appropriations Committee to support the amended version of LD 1219 to increase funding for the University of Maine System and to raise the minimum wage for its employees. This bill will support at minimum a 4% increase each year, as originally proposed by Governor Mills.
Tell them your stories, and what underfunding has meant for you and your students.
We highly recommend that you stress the need to ensure that state funding goes as close to the student as possible and is not siphoned off by the central office.
We encourage you to underscore the need for wages for support staff to increase so staff in the UMaine System are not working full time and yet qualifying for public benefits, such as food stamps and/or other public services.
If you hear back from a legislator, please let Jan Kosinski know by emailing him at [email protected]
