NYSHEI News

NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer today submitted testimony to the New York State Legislature Joint Budget Hearing on Higher Education.  The joint budget hearings begin the legislature’s response to the Executive Budget Proposal for fiscal 2010-2011, offered by Governor Paterson.

In acknowledging the lingering problems of New York’s economy and the crushing deficits resultant of the recent national economic climate, Kramer argued that the old ways of doing business were not sufficient.

“If it is to master the problems, not merely of the current environment, but of the 21st century, business as usual is not good enough.  New York must – and can – be smarter, faster and more efficient,” said Kramer.

Toward that goal Kramer offered ARIA as an example of mitigating cuts, creating cost efficiencies, and exploiting economies of scale.

“An investment in ARIA would bring immediate relief and lasting results,” Kramer argued.

The full testimony is available on-line.

The background to the 2010 State of the State is a multi-billion dollar state deficit that will grow to a $17 billion deficit when the federal stimulus money runs out in FY 2011-12.  In his response to these hostile challenges Governor David Paterson offered a fresh start in his speech.

The Governor admitted that something – if not everything – had to change if New York were to avoid descent into bankruptcy.  In his State of the State address the Governor offered an overhaul of state finances that would include significant budget cuts, a dramatic retooling of government practices and ethics that would include term limits, and a vision to reignite the “Innovation Economy” in New York.  This is a difficult agenda that is already being met with reticence from the legislature.

A list of all initiatives referenced in the State of the State is available online.

Of particular interest to academic and research libraries may be some of the ideas contained in the Governor’s economic development proposals.  While it is difficult to predict specifics in advance of the release of the Executive Budget proposal (January 18, 2010), there were encouraging moments during the speech.  When Paterson discussed the importance of an innovation infrastructure, the role of colleges and universities, and information age economic growth, many heard an argument in favor of the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act.

The Excelsior Jobs program, as a described successor to the Empire Zone program, may provide one opportunity for ARIA to seek enactment.  So too the Governor’s call to include small business in research and development entrepreneurial incentives.

The legislative session has begun.  With no money in the bank, a closely divided Senate, a unpopular Governor placing blame on an even less popular legislature, and looming elections, 2010 will be an unusually difficult year.  May analysts predict that gridlock and in-fighting will be the hallmarks of the session.  Only time will tell.

NYSHEI, like every other group in the state, will face formidable challenges.  Creativity and hardwork will be needed as never before, but may still not be enough to achieve progress.  Rather, nearly every interest in the state will need to muster all their resources to minimize losses rather than realize gains.

NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer recently testified before Governor Paterson’s Task Force on Diversifying The New York State Economy Through Industry-Higher Education Partnerships.   Meeting at the City College of New York, CUNY, the Task Force heard from twenty experts on the economic advantages of enhanced cooperation between the academic and commercial sectors.

During his testimony Mr. Kramer stressed the importance of an information infrastructure to the “innovation economy” sought by Governor Paterson and other policy makers.  To this end, Mr. Kramer urged the Task Force to support ARIA.  A sample of Mr. Kramer’s testimony is below.

In 2006, the director of NYSTAR said “universities are situated in the crossroads of research, education and innovation.  It is vital that knowledge flows from universities into business and society.”

In 2007, the A.T. Kearney report commissioned by Empire State Development stated that New York needs a “unified statewide economic growth engine fueled by the development of a high-technology infrastructure.  Such an infrastructure can be created through the combined efforts of the state, ESD, businesses, investors and the academic and research communities.”

In 2008, the National Governor’s Association, in association with the Pew Center on the States, issued a report on innovation that declared that successful states must “develop a statewide research and innovation strategy” that makes wise investments (as opposed to massive investments) and develops the states pre-existing strengths.

This month the Center for an Urban Future released a report on “Building New York City’s Innovation Economy.”  This report states that while academic research institutions are important “economic anchors” they have “never served as a major source of growth,” and that it is “unrealistic” to expect big rewards from these institutions “under status quo conditions.”  However, as the report states, “the moment is perfect for such an effort.”

I urge this Task Force to lend further credibility to this movement and endorse the underlying concept behind ARIA, that is, to strengthen our academic and research libraries in a coordinated fashion thereby expanding resources, lowering budgets, and providing access to scores of researchers and small businesses.

The full testimony is available here.

The State Assembly Committees on Governmental Operations and Libraries & Education Technology jointly held a public hearing in Albany on July 28, 2009.  The hearing was conducted by the respective committee chairs, Assembly Member Roann Destito (D-Utica) and Assembly Member Barbara Lifton (D-Ithaca).  Also joining the panel was Ranking Minority Member of the Libraries Committee, Assembly Member Marcus Molinaro (R-Hudson).

The hearing invited testimony to illuminate strategies and methods that would allow libraries to more effectively and efficiently procure needed services and commoditites, including technology services, in the interest of saving scarce budget dollars.

State Librarian and Assistant Commissioner of the State Education Department, Bernard Margolis, testified to the benefits of library collaboration in lowering costs and advocated for reforming state procurement structures to permit public and academic libraries to aggregate market share and also contribute – through the state – to lower the cost of statewide electronic databases.

On behalf of the New York State Higher Education Initiative, Executive Director Jason Kramer, spoke on the need for state leadership in securing digital information resources.  He both urged state leaders to provide budgetary support, preferably in the method proscribed by the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act, and also through the creation of state-held contracts with publishing vendors that libraries could option to buy into.

Also providing invited testimony were representatives of the State Office of General Services, the New York Library Association, and the Westchester Library System.

Assembly Members were fully engaged in the hearing and asked probing questions with an eye toward developing legislation for the upcoming 2010 legislative session.

“It was a very productive day,” said NYSHEI Director Jason Kramer.  “Clearly Members Destito, Lifton and Molinaro understand the dire economic need to support academic and research libraries and vital information infrastructure.  Most importantly, they are aggressively looking for a way to help sooner than later, in spite of looming state budget deficits.”

Full NYSHEI testimony can be read here: procure-hearing-july-09

On June 15, 2009, the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act was passed by the New York State Assembly.  With no votes in opposition, the Assembly voted to enact ARIA, and thereby passed the most significant piece of legislation for academic and research libraries in a generation.

The vote by the full Assembly capped a day of whirlwind activities.  ARIA started the day in the Way & Means Committee, having already successful passed the Assembly Committee on Economic Development.  In Ways and Means, ARIA again recieved unanimous, bipartisan support and was quickly shuttled to the Assembly Rules Committee.  Again, with unanimous, bipartisan support, the Rules Committee recommended ARIA to the full chamber.

Assigned calendar number 282, ARIA rapidly moved to “third reading,” (a prequisite for voting) and faced the full Assembly.  Sheparded by prime sponsor Assembyman Robin Schimminger, ARIA passed the Assembly.

This is a major milestone for NYSHEI, and all public and private academic and research libraries.  However, we must now await for the situation in the Senate to settle before we can make further progress.