ASUI lobbyist sets sights high as legislative session begins
As the 63rd Idaho State Legislature convened earlier this week, ASUI President Nate Fisher said ASUI lobbyist Anne Zabala is on the forefront asking legislators to consider an increase in higher education funding and greater support for college programs.
Zabala said although ASUI’s lobby points may evolve as legislators make decisions and the session unfolds, Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) and Complete College Idaho (CCI) requests are the two primary ASUI goals for this legislative session.
In an effort to retain high-performing faculty and staff members, Zabala said UI will ask for a 4 percent increase of funds for employee salaries.
“Every year with things like cost of living going up and inflation, you have to adjust salaries based on that,” she said. “We are really focused on that because that is what makes the salaries that we offer our faculty and staff are competitive.”
Zabala said Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter will present what he deems as an appropriate CEC and UI will lobby based on that. Regardless, Fisher said President Staben will request the 4 percent increase for salaries from the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee during Higher Education Week Jan. 26.
“We are happy to lobby for salary increases for our faculty and staff,” Fisher said. “Our faculty is paid at about 82 percent of our peer average, which is pretty incredibly low, and if we have any hope of retaining our good faculty and employees of the University of Idaho, we need to create more incentives to keep them here.”
Along with CEC, Fisher said Zabala will advocate for legislators to better support CCI, part of the Complete College America program, which encourages American citizens to continue on with higher education after high school and complete a collegiate degree. Fisher said the goal of CCI is to have 60 percent of Idaho citizens between the ages of 25-34 years to have college degrees by the year 2020.
“Just going on beyond high school is what the state is really trying to promote, which would certainly be beneficial for the university,” Fisher said. “We’re asking for some funds for career readiness component that would help bolster our Career Center and getting students ready to progress into the future after their undergraduate career at the University of Idaho.”
Fisher said that Otter highlighted some CCI plans and funds during the State of the State Address Jan. 12. Fisher also said ASUI is supportive of increasing funds allocated to the Idaho State Board of Education that go toward scholarships.
Zabala said now that she’s stationed in Boise, she’s already spend time building connections with legislators, promoting UI and learning about the legislative process itself.
“It’s been really enjoyable, and I hope I can be effective down here,” Zabala said.
UI student ambassadors will join Zabala on Jan. 26 as they participate in a UI presentation to the legislators prior to Staben’s address to the legislature and JFAC.
Cara Pantone can be reached at [email protected]