State senator eyes deal in budget amendment
State Sen. Nick Collins (DSouth Boston) is taking aim at the University of Massachusetts-Mount Ida College deal in an amendment he has filed to the Senate budget.
Collins’ district includes UMass Boston, where faculty have protested the $75 million deal that’s taking place while they are facing possible cuts. His measure would prohibit state funds from being used to pay for expenses, including debt service, involved in the acquisition of any private college.
“This amendment codifies in law what UMass Amherst’s chancellor stated in his letter to the Legislature on April 26 that no taxpayer money will be used to acquire Mount Ida College, and no additional state funds will be sought to operate the campus,” Collins said in a statement yesterday. “Our goal here is to give confidence to taxpayers, other UMass campuses and state universities that this acquisition, if it goes through, will not come at the expense of other programs and interests that compete for state funding.”
At a Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight hearing yesterday, UMass President Martin T. Meehan sought to reassure the committee by echoing Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy’s pledge.
“Let me assure you that the funding is not state-appropriated, not appropriated by the president’s office or the board of trustees, and not otherwise available though any mechanism to UMass Boston,” Meehan said. “UMass Amherst is borrowing under its boardmandated 8 percent debt cap and will repay that borrowing with its own revenue.”
On Tuesday, Attorney General Maura Healey said she will allow UMass Amherst to purchase Mount Ida’s Newton campus for $75 million because the now-defunct private college claimed it would otherwise have been forced to file for bankruptcy yesterday.