The chancellor of the Oklahoma State Regents for higher education declined to echo OU President David L. Boren’s request for money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund at a meeting in Midwest City Thursday.

In December, Boren called on lawmakers to tap the special emergency account to fund an $80.4 million increase in higher education appropriations, an amount which the regents say will allow them to freeze tuition and fees at Oklahoma’s public universities.

But regents Chancellor Glen Johnson has not made a request for Rainy Day Fund money a part of his presentation as he travels Oklahoma, informing the state about higher education’s funding needs in advance of the next legislative session, which begins Feb. 4.

“Obviously the needs that we have are straightforward and solid,” Johnson said, “But as far as advocating a source of revenue like the Rainy Day Fund, I think our theory is that really is the prerogative of the legislature and Gov. Henry.”

The Rainy Day Fund, formally known as the Constitutional Reserve Fund, holds approximately $600 million. The state may use those funds if the governor and 75 percent of the legislature declare a state emergency.

Boren’s suggestion to use the Rainy Day Fund has received little support from state leaders, who are anticipating a drop in state revenue of approximately $309 million this year due to the current economic condition.

But Rose State College Regents Chairman James F. Howell, a former Oklahoma legislator, said Thursday that he believes the present economic hardships warrant dipping into the funds to provide the $80.4 million needed by higher education.

“There’s enough money there to sustain state government this next year and I think when the pressure gets on to take care of the colleges in Oklahoma that they will do that,” Howell said, “Nobody’s right now saying they will, but I would bet you a steak dinner, or anybody else, that they will dip into the Rainy Day Fund the last two weeks of the session.”

Johnson said he hopes legislators will view the $80.4 million as an investment in Oklahoma’s future.

Studies released by the state regents found that for every $1 spent on higher education, $5.15 is put back into Oklahoma’s economy. Also, in 2008, spending by higher education added an estimated 23,750 jobs to the Oklahoma economy, according to the state regents.

“To invest in education and the lives and minds of these young people is the greatest stimulus we could have for economic growth in Oklahoma,” Howell said, “It’s better than Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The better educated young people are, the more money they make, the more taxes they pay. That’s the way it works.”