On Feb. 20, I had the opportunity to speak at a Minnesota town-hall meeting in Albert Lea. These state budget forums held throughout the state provide an opportunity for state lawmakers to solicit the public’s ideas on how to move the state forward in this tough economic time. The following material comes from my testimony to the legislative committee.

Many taxpayers rightfully are concerned about the size and cost of state government during this economic crisis. Critics contend that state government is wasteful, fat and that state taxes are an erosion of individual wealth.

What many critics of state government forget is that state employees also pay taxes, and we have an equally strong interest in a state government that is efficient and effective.

Moreover, taxes support infrastructure and services that serve the public good. Higher education serves the public good.

Tens of thousands of workers in our state have lost or will lose their jobs. Many of these dislocated workers will need re-training. Fortunately, Riverland is well poised for these challenging times. Our college provides short-term retraining certificate and diploma programs as well as two-year degree programs, all of which lead to living-wage jobs.

Already, we have begun meeting with dislocated workers in our region through our New Directions program. This is a free session at which participants explore viable job opportunities in doutheast Minnesota and learn about short-term training available to help secure these jobs. Participants also learn how to finance their training or education and to balance school, family and work. New Directions sessions are scheduled currently in Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna. For more information about New Directions, visit the Riverland Web site at www.riverland.edu.

Riverland works closely with workforce development partners and private-sector employers to address dislocated workers’ training needs in our region. Partnerships are cost-effective and efficient strategies for meeting the needs of employers and a growing number of dislocated workers.

Unfortunately, disproportionate budget reductions undermine our efforts to be efficient and effective.

Anticipating as much as a $2 million reduction over the upcoming biennium, Riverland has developed incremental strategies to balance its budget.

Our worse-case scenarios would reduce our college’s personnel budget up to approximately:

$1.7 million over the next 15 months.

Eight full-time positions before July 1, 2009.

Nearly 30 percent of our part-time instruction budget.

Four to six additional positions not continued after vacancy or retirement.

For every $1 million reduction to our budget, I estimate Riverland will serve 400 fewer students.

The pending major reductions in force will affect our operations despite our past and present efforts to improve efficiencies and protect the quality of teaching and learning and services to students.

Budget reductions will inhibit our ability to complete our work — work more critical now than ever before as our state sees record-breaking numbers of dislocated workers.

I encourage our legislators to help us continue to serve students and employers, and I wish them well as they work to resolve the critical issues that face our state.

Terrence Leas is the president of Riverland Community College.