By DAVE EISENSTADTER
@DaveEisen
Monday, February 1, 2016
(Published in print: Tuesday, February 2, 2016)
AMHERST — State Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg on Monday criticized Gov. Charlie Baker for a “woefully inadequate” and “disappointing” increase for the University of Massachusetts in his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Baker’s budget proposal, released last week, includes a 1.4 percent increase for UMass, for a total of $539 million compared with the current year’s figure of about $532 million.
“It is really a very modest increase and we’re going to have to work really hard in the Legislature to find a path to raise it,” Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said Monday.
The university system submitted a budget request for $601 million in December, stating that it needed the $69 million increase for pay raises driven by collective bargaining, capital improvements resulting from deferred maintenance and financial aid.