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Hutchinson considers other sources for research funds Saturday, Sep 9, 2006 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau FAYETTEVILLE - Republican candidate Asa Hutchinson said Friday he would consider other sources of money besides the state's General Improvement Fund for research projects at state universities if elected governor. "Getting the fund created is my highest priority," Hutchinson said during a tour of the University of Arkansas Center of Excellence for Poultry Science. "I think the improvement fund is still a logical source, but not necessarily the only source." He toured the facility after meeting with university officials, including Collis R. Geren, dean of the university's graduate school and vice provost for research. Hutchinson has proposed a $25 million fund to pay the required state portion of federal grants for university research projects. He announced the proposal before the full extent of the state's projected budget surplus was announced. Fiscal officers said the state had more than $400 million at the end of the fiscal year June 30. The General Improvement Fund consists mainly of fund balances left over in state agency budgets at the end of each fiscal year, and interest earned on tax revenue after it is collected but before it is spent. Officials told Hutchinson that Arkansas universities are getting less than one-sixth as much research money as they would if they received as much as the average of their counterparts in other states. Hutchinson said one of his concerns, if elected, would be to make sure grant requests are coordinated. He said did not want state-run universities competing with each other for grants or duplicating themselves in research projects. University officials told him that higher education institutions were coordinating already and would agree to more formal coordination. Attorney General Mike Beebe, Hutchinson's Democratic opponent in the Nov. 7 general election, had no comment, his campaign said. |
