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State budget freeze could hurt researchers
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Published: April 13, 2009
Updated: 04/14/2009 09:33 am
KANNAPOLIS - Gov. Bev. Perdue's freeze on new purchases could put scientists at the North Carolina Research Campus in a bind.
Under a new budget directive, they would not be able to purchase any new equipment for their labs for the rest of the fiscal year — equipment that is crucial for their research projects.
Jana Harrison, deputy director of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, said state institutes at the research campus were expecting the freeze to happen, but faculty and staff don't fully know how it will affect operations.
"We haven't gotten the official word from UNC-Chapel Hill from yet about constraints, how much leeway we will have," Harrison said. "The expectation is that it will affect us significantly."
Perdue announced the freeze last Thursday to in effort to fight a $2 billion budget shortfall. In addition to purchasing freeze, Perdue froze all travel by state employees, except for public safety and emergency agencies, and all vacant permanent and temporary positions.
UNC researcher Carol Cheatham said she has on order a highly-specialized piece of equipment for her child development lab that may be in limbo because of the purchasing freeze.
The directive states that items on order, but not received by April 16 — this Thursday — must be canceled.
"We were already operating under restrictions," Harrison said. "We may be running on a shoestring budget or less or even less than that."
Harrison said she expected an answer on how the new directives will affect the institute by today.
At the N.C. State building, faculty members were instructed to get their essential equipment requests in early, in anticipation of the purchasing freeze.
Tara Vogelien, director for business and research administration at the Plants for Human Health Institute said many of the faculty limited using their equipment funding this year to just what they needed until the new fiscal year.
"We've pretty much gotten in everything we need, as far as for essential research," she said. "We also have some grant fund that we can use to get us to July 1."
The current fiscal year ends June 30. The General Assembly is expected to have a new budget for the next two years in place by July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.
The N.C. Senate passed a $20 billion budget proposal last week. It included $3 million for the research campus to purchase equipment and hire faculty.
The House has to draw up its own budget plan, then the two chambers will duke out the details of the two plans in a conference committee.
• Contact reporter Ben McNeely: 704-785-4932
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