New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer's $120.6 billion executive budget proposal would largely maintain the status quo in higher education funding, but Cornell officials are particularly pleased by a particular gem: a proposal to double funding for a program to hire new faculty in Cornell's contract colleges.

The governor's proposed spending plan for New York state's 2007-08 fiscal year, released Jan. 31, calls for increased funding for the Empire Innovation Program to $12 million from $6 million. The program funds new faculty hires at New York's public universities based on the amount of federal research grants they receive. As the state's land-grant university, Cornell would benefit from the increase.

Cornell's current $1.1 million share of Empire Innovation funds for the fiscal year 2006-07 supports new faculty hires in the life sciences, computational biology, neurobiology and behavior and the social sciences.

As a whole, the executive budget proposal has Cornell officials feeling optimistic about building a strong working relationship with the new administration.

"It's a good budget and a positive start," said Charles Kruzansky, Cornell's associate director for governmental affairs. Kruzansky added that he looks forward to hearing more about Spitzer's recently announced plan to form a commission on higher education.

Carolyn Ainslie, Cornell's vice president for planning and budget, agreed. "The governor's proposal reflects his concern and support for higher education in New York state," Ainslie said.

Officials are also pleased about the governor's plan to create a voter-approved $2.1 billion stem cell and innovation fund, which could facilitate key research and technology transfer in the life sciences.

"It clearly is a positive first step," said Ron Seeber, vice provost for land grant affairs at Cornell. "We look forward to working with the Legislature to improve the final budget in critical areas such as capital construction and renovation and for selected program areas."