Budget stress doesn't help state, university growth at time when Nebraska is 'the hunted,' Hank Bounds says in KETV exit interview

Advertisement Time for 'serious conversation' about casino gambling, NU president says Budget stress doesn't help state, university growth at time when Nebraska is 'the hunted,' Hank Bounds says in KETV exit interview

As Iowa regulators roll out the rules for sports betting in state casinos, state schools stand to benefit from even more gambling revenue.It's a funding source not available to Nebraska.The outgoing University of Nebraska president says as the state deals with difficult budgets year after year, it's a revenue source lawmakers need to seriously consider."I don't think that you can leave anything off the table right now," Hank Bounds said in a KETV NewsWatch 7 exit interview. "The state of Iowa, through gambling revenue, spends a lot of money on refurbishing facilities at its universities."After Bounds arrived to run Nebraska's universities in 2015, he had to temper ambitious plans because of a bleak financial situation. He presided over three straight years of budget cuts."It puts you in a mode of doing nothing but managing," Bounds said. "Managing issues, managing cuts, it's hard to look over the horizon."Bounds worries not enough policy makers in Lincoln are thinking about the long-term ramifications of their budgeting choices."The decisions that you make right now have an impact a decade from now," Bounds argued.And tough budgets couldn't come at a worse time for Nebraska, according to the outgoing university president.He's not sparing the state his dire view of the future."There are going to be states that are hunters, and there are going to be states that are the hunted," Bounds explained. "Right now, we are the hunted."By that, Bounds means other states are coming into Nebraska and "buying" the best students. Colleges and universities out of state are luring them away.At the same time, Omaha's competitors around the nation are trying to lure workers and jobs to their own cities.While Bounds didn't anticipate the fiscal stress he endured as university president, he says the same financial challenges face school systems around the country.He said he and his leadership team were committed to keeping the university's momentum, despite getting fewer resources from the state."Every metric that you look at is trending in the right direction, even with three cuts," he said of the university's performance.But as the state finally increased the university's budget by 3 percent in its 2019 fiscal year, Bounds was quick to point out it isn't a growth budget."A growth budget recognizes the workforce crisis that our state faces, and invests in a way that ensures we keep our best and brightest students here," Bounds said. "We aren't competing with other states."