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Since Oregon State University got left behind in the 2023 implosion of the Pac-12 Conference, OSU lobbyists have been working industriously to backfill the $35 million in conference media payments the university will lose starting next year.
One request OSU lobbyists slid under legislative leaders’ doors at the beginning of the short session: $20 million in new funding from the Oregon Lottery over the next two years (the lottery already allocates money to universities).
In a pointed Feb. 13 response, the presidents of Oregon’s other six public universities submitted their own request for lottery funding, in an equal amount but excluding Oregon State.
The six presidents noted in their letter that OSU, along with its fellow Pac-12 orphan Washington State, won a $255 million court judgment against the conference in December. Their none-too-subtle point: Oregon State may be flush and is, in any case, not the only Oregon university trying to figure out how to pay for athletics.
“Should the Oregon Legislative Assembly see fit to increase the amount of lottery funding dedicated to university student athletic programs, [we request] these funds be equitably distributed annually among all of Oregon’s universities,” the presidents wrote.
Any higher-ed funding this session is likely to be part of the last-minute “Christmas tree bill” that will come together shortly before the March 10 close of the session.