Of the 184 vetoes New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued pertaining to facets of the 2015-2016 Enacted Budget, two items in relation to Stony Brook University were vetoed as “unconstitutional alterations of the Executive’s reappropriations,” according to a press release from the Governor’s office on Monday, April 13.
Cuomo vetoed $22.2 million allocated for stadium improvements and locker room facilities at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, citing that the allocation was an “unconstitutional alteration of a reappropriation contained in the Executive Budget submission, because it changes the purpose of the reappropriation by removing the computational biomedicine visualization and drug development magnet facility at Stony Brook and substituting therefor stadium improvement and locker room facilities.”
Originally, the $22.2 million was marked in the 2008-09 University Budget to fund a “computational biomedicine visualization and and drug development magnet facility,” but this money was reallocated to the stadium’s facilities, according to the budget update provided at the April 6 University Senate meeting.
The second veto rejected $2 million set aside for an indoor practice facility and exam center, citing that this offense was an “unconstitutional alteration of a reappropriation contained in the Executive Budget submission, because it changes the purpose of the reappropriation by… (iii) removing the computational biomedicine visualization and drug development magnet facility at Stony Brook and substituting therefor an indoor practice facility/exam center.”
The money was supposed to be used to expand and renovate the stadium after the Athletics Department partnered with Populous, an architectural design company, to conduct a feasibility study.
The feasibility study looks to plan out an expansion and renovation project for Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. The money proposed in the budget was meant to help pay for what the study reveals and determine how much would need to be raised privately, Stony Brook Athletic Director Shawn Heilbron said in an interview on April 8.
The study was launched this month to survey the current stadium and the surrounding area.
Populous developed Marlins Park in Miami, Amway Arena in Orlando and The O2 arena in London. The company also transformed England’s capital for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Populous has also drawn up plans for a new Milwaukee Bucks arena to replace the Bradley Center.
At the time of publication, a Stony Brook Athletics representative was not available for comment.
In a statement from the university, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Brian Miller said that “The Executive announced a decision to veto 184 appropriations, and we have been informed that there may be technical or legal issues with the appropriations that prompted this action. We look forward to working with the Executive and the two houses of the legislature to overcome these issues in the future.”
Update: April 15, 2015
At 9:43 p.m. on Tuesday night, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Brian Miller issued a statement from the university about Governor Andrew Cuomo’s veto decision.
