Orr on higher ed funding: ‘Ironic’ that Auburn would begrudge little Athens State

Last week, the Auburn University Board of Trustees voiced its displeasure over the amount of appropriations Auburn is to receive under Gov. Kay Ivey’s 2020 budget proposal.

Trustee Jimmy Rane publicly called out State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), the chair of the State Senate’s Finance and Taxation Education Committee, noting that under the proposal, Auburn would receive only a 5% increase. Rane compared that to the University of Alabama, which would see a 7.5% increase, and Athens State University, which would see an 11% increase.

Rane went on to call the appropriations “unacceptable” and noted that Athens State University was in Orr’s district.

During an interview that aired on Huntsville radio’s WVNN on Wednesday, Orr responded to Rane’s criticisms.

Orr maintained the figures were already set in Ivey’s budget and were calculated by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

“Evidently, Mr. Rane wasn’t given all the facts because the facts are the appropriations Ivey suggested were all done by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education,” Orr said. “And they retained consultants from out of state and examined and reviewed all the appropriations for all the higher ed institutions – publicly, public institutions. And the conclusions are what are reflected in Ivey’s budget. I personally had no interaction. I didn’t know what the numbers were until Governor Ivey submitted her formal budget to the legislature. His accusations are very much misplaced.”

The Decatur Republican went on to compare the sizes of the Auburn University and Athens State University budgets, noting the drastic differences in size.

“What I find ironic is that Auburn would begrudge little Athens State, which the Athens State budget is about 4% the size of Auburn’s,” he continued. “Auburn’s is about $1.3 billion-plus. Athens State’s is around $60 million or so. And so, you’re looking at such a minuscule budget. And the addition that Athens State got that’s in Governor Ivey’s budget was several hundred thousand dollars. So, several hundred thousand dollars, when you compare that to $1.3 billion budget, you’re talking about, not even I would suggest much less than even a rounding error.”

“So, it’s a little bit perplexing they would want to call out Athens State in a couple hundred thousand dollars in appropriations,” Orr added.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.