State Relations Update - January 12, 2009

Last week, the Office of Government Relations hosted our annual Summit on the state budget.  The meeting was well attended and we discussed the SUNY Budget Request, the 2009-10 Executive Budget Proposal as well as our Budget Communications Plan. 

ADVOCACY PIECES

The following two advocacy pieces we have designed for lobbying activities relative to the budget. The intent is to use these two pieces in tandem when discussing the budget with legislators and outside groups we are pitching to help support SUNY. The two-pager is a straight forward position piece. The larger piece outlines the Board's budget request, along with the positions.

The two pager (8.5" x 11") includes the full text of the letter Carl Hayden and Carl McCall sent to the legislature along with the SUNY positions on the Executive Budget.

The larger format piece (tri-fold 11" x 17") includes an explanation of the four pillars, SUNY's positions on the Executive Budget, a chart showing how every time SUNY tuition increased there was a corresponding decrease in state support, along with a shortened version of the Hayden-McCall letter to the Legislature (shortened due to space limitations).

Please note that we are producing these in-house, so let the Office of Government Relations know how many of each piece you may require and we can get them delivered to your campus ASAP.  If you have color printing capabilities, you can easily produce the 8.5"x11" piece, and if you have 11"x17" color printing capabilities, you can also produce the larger piece as well.  They are designed to be two-sided.

ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES

2009 Session Calendar - You will note that in January the Legislature is in session only two days per week; however, beginning February 2nd the will start with four-day work weeks.  This is an accelerated session calendar and will require their attendance in Albany much more than in past years.

SUNY Legislative Alumni Caucus - We have scheduled a joint SUNY/CUNY Legislative Alumni Luncheon on March 10th in the Albany Room, Empire State Plaza.  With the change in the Senate to a Democrat Majority, joining with CUNY for this event will increase the Alumni participation as CUNY has 36 Legislative Alums.  Thus, we are inviting all Legislative alumni of SUNY and CUNY and will be discussing the importance of supporting public higher education.  All presidents and campus government relations officers are invited to attend.  We will be sending a separate invitation in the coming weeks.
SUNY Advocates - The SUNY Advocates website www.sunyadvocates.org is up and running. We are beginning our grassroots advocacy petition campaign.  I have attached a document which summarizes your efforts and what actions we are asking each campus to take in the next several weeks.  If you have any questions on this initiative, please contact Stacey Hengsterman at Stacey.hengsterman@suny.edu.

System Meetings with Legislators - Beginning today and over the next few weeks and months, Chairman Hayden, Trustee McCall, John O'Connor and I will be meeting together with Speaker Silver, Senator Majority Leader Smith and other key leaders in both the Senate and Assembly.  In addition, Assemblyperson Glick and Senator Stavisky are separately hosting meetings for us to discuss SUNY''s budget needs with key members of their conferences.

SUNY’s Testimony Before the Joint Fiscal Committees - The Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees have announced the Joint Legislative Hearing Schedule on the 2009-2010 Executive Budget submitted to the Legislature by Governor David Paterson.  The Higher Education hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, January 15th beginning at 10:00 AM in Hearing Room C in the LOB.  Carl Hayden, Carl McCall and John O'Connor, will lead off the testimony on behalf of SUNY followed by CUNY, HESC, SED and CICU in addition to representatives from labor and interested members of the public.

If you have any comments or questions, please let us know.  We will keep you informed.