Good news-bad news for higher ed

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – All eyes are on the Oregon Legislature as the 2021 session winds down and a new budget will soon be produced. Blue Mountain Community College Interim President Connie Green said the news looks good, but not for long.

“We’ve been told that we might – maybe – kind of – get our full amount, that $702 million that we asked for, and, oh by the way, next session we will get less,” Green said of the word coming out of Salem.

Green said the bad news is because a “cliff” is coming based on how revenues are coming in to the state. That means it will be up to the college to balance funding.

“So, we will make sure that we reserve that extra amount for the cliff, so we don’t have to then add and then take away within a year,” she said. “That just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”