LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing the United States Congress to enact
a New Deal for a New Millennium for Higher Education which will enable
New York and other states to rebuild their public higher education
systems for the benefit of all

WHEREAS, The recent global financial crisis has brought a renewed focus
to the task of strengthening our public universities as the key to our
country's long-term economic viability and continued prosperity; and
WHEREAS, Although the President and Congress have infused massive
amounts of American taxpayer dollars in an attempt to stanch the finan-
cial bleeding on Wall Street, it is not clear what commitment will be
made to rebuild our human infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Individuals from all walks of life and of different political
persuasions agree that broad access to high-quality higher education is
a key ingredient to a positive economic outcome for the American people,
and that the very survival of a strong United States economy requires a
highly educated workforce; and
WHEREAS, An affordable, accessible, high-quality education is good not
only for an individual's personal finances, but more importantly, it is
essential for our society's prosperity; and
WHEREAS, For years, stakeholders in New York's education community
have advocated proper funding for high-quality public higher education
which is accessible and affordable for every New Yorker; and
WHEREAS, Unfortunately, due to increasingly dire economic conditions
and only modest federal support, we have witnessed the persistent
erosion of public resources dedicated to New York's higher education
segments; and
WHEREAS, Declining state and federal support of public higher educa-
tion has translated into fewer, larger classes available to students,
compounding the costs and making students' timely progress toward
degrees more difficult; and
WHEREAS, The budgetary neglect over many years of the State University
of New York (SUNY), The City University of New York (CUNY) and their
Community Colleges now warrants a bold approach by policymakers, just as
decisive action has been taken to prevent the collapse of Wall Street;
and
WHEREAS, During this economic slowdown, the segments of public higher
education are grappling with a surge in applications as unemployment
continues to rise and the need for workers to re-train and re-enter the
workforce continues to grow; and
WHEREAS, New York's public university systems, the State University of
New York and The City University of New York, educate 61 percent of all
minority college students in the State (22.3% SUNY, 38.7% CUNY), as well
as the largest percentage of low income students who represent 60
percent of state Tuition Assistance Program recipients; and
WHEREAS, The state's community colleges provide the access point to
college for many first time college students and for students who must
work and attend college with CUNY serving more than 81,000 community
college students, an increase of more than six percent, and SUNY serving
more than 220,000 community college students, who comprise over 50
percent of SUNY's entire enrollment; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of students and families who rely on New York's
public higher education systems are our future entrepreneurs, business
owners, peace officers, educators, and public officials, all of whom,
together with many others, are too important to allow to fail; and
WHEREAS, Seven hundred billion dollars ($700,000,000,000), the amount
that the federal government has allocated to bail out Wall Street, is

more than 10 times the size of the United States Department of Education
budget for the 2007 fiscal year, an amount which could be used to send
5,400,000 students to a public university somewhere in the United States
this year; and
WHEREAS, The establishment and funding of a federal program for higher
education in the amount of seventy billion dollars ($70,000,000,000), an
amount which is just 10 percent of what the United States government is
spending on the nation's financial crisis, would restore access for
students to our nation's public universities and colleges and would
provide college-going grants similar to the World War II era G.I. Bill
of Rights as well as student loan debt forgiveness for all students who
take jobs in public service; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Congress of the United States be and hereby is
respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to enact a New Deal
for a New Millennium for Higher Education which will enable New York
State to rebuild the three segments of its public higher education
system and will, similarly, help the public education systems of the
other states as well; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the President of the Senate of the United States, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the Congress of
the United States from the State of New York.