Reading the tea leaves ??; politics as usual ??; Sid's promised duels apparently dissipate ?? Dern if I know. -- Proposed Tuition Increase.

In a 9-22-04 post entitled "Another boxing match possible in Georgia, and we're not talking about the Presidential race -- Tuition hikes forthcoming?," we predicted that soon we might be seeing some real duels:

"[T]he first [could be] between Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and/or Gov. Sonny Perdue -- to be determined by lot or draw -- versus University System Chancellor Thomas Meredith. The second, if won by the Chancellor, to be between the winner of the draw between the Lt. Gov. and the Gov."

Both duels, would be of couse, over the issue of mid-year tuition hikes.

It looks as if House Speaker Terry Coleman also wants to join the fray, but maybe not against Meredith. Not surprisingly, he seems to be coming out against Perdue, and leaving Meredith alone (more below on this).

The 10-3-04 ajc reports that Gov. Perdue is defending his $68 million in state cuts in higher education, saying he believes the university system can absorb the cuts by trimming fat and becoming more efficient, and blaming the Board of Regents for the announced midyear tuition hike, which he says he opposes.

Not wanting to be left out, today Lt. Gov. Taylor writes in the ajc complaining that the Board of Regents is scheduled to approve layoffs and a midyear tuition increase, but then blaiming this tuition increase on Gov. Perdue, and adding that "[w]ith this increase, Gov. Sonny Perdue will have raised tuition at research universities by 32.8 percent in his first two years in office. By comparison, Gov. Roy Barnes and Gov. Zell Miller each raised tuition just over 8 percent during their first two years in office."

The Lt. Gov. offers his ideas: "Perhaps we should be selling off state planes and helicopters," he writes in his letter in the ajc. And in case his readers missed it the first time, he says it again: "If funding education and protecting the elderly are not included at the top of our list, after luxuries such as state planes and helicopters, then most Georgians would say we need to make some serious changes."

How did we get to the necessity of this tuition increase, one might ask. The Lt. Gov. has an answer: "The most disturbing part about the tuition increase is that we would not be where we are today if the budget had not been mismanaged [by Gov. Perdue]."

Although the headline in a 10-2-04 Augusta Chronicle article is "House speaker opposes tuition increase," this does not seem to be what the article says (and I understand that editors for newspapers do the titles, and in this case I think the editors mis-titled this article by Vicky Eckenrode of Morris News Service). The article notes:

"As the state's university system weighs a 10 percent, midyear tuition increase and job reductions, one Democratic leader is making a last-minute appeal for Gov. Sonny Perdue to hold off on budget cuts.

"House Speaker Terry Coleman, D-Eastman, said strong revenue collections during the first two months of this fiscal year, which started July 1, could help cushion the blow the state's 34 universities and colleges are expected to take because of a funding shortfall.

"'The governor makes decisions based on reality and numbers, not on politics,' Perdue spokeswoman Loretta Lepore said. 'He is making decisions predicated on the revenue estimates that we are seeing and the projections that we are seeing.'"

So where does all of this leave us? I dern sure don't know.

I might have called it wrong. I had everyone lined up, regardless of party affiliation, against the Chancellor. It appears I was mistaken.

Just from what I have read -- and that is reflected above -- and having no other insight, it appears that the Democrats are going to let the Governor take all of the heat for the tuition increases, and not oppose them.

I concluded my 9-22-04 post by observing:

"I assume since Gov. Perdue never stepped up to the plate in the Dr. Michael Adams versus Board of Regents fight, it might not be accurate to call this round two of a match between the Board of Regents and the State of Georgia.

"But regardless of who wins such latest round, surely they know there is such a thing as winning the battle and losing the war. Stay tuned; this is going to be interesting and regardless of the winner, there will be no winner."

Such "losing the war" comment was based on the Board of Regents taking on both political parties, that is, the legislature as a whole.

From the way it looks now, it's going to be politics as usual.

Maybe this is a good sign. Maybe the Board of Regents and the Democrats have gotten together after Debate No. 1 and read the tea leaves, and they look good for the Democrats on Nov. 2.