Governor Rodrigo Garcia received members of Cruesp (Council of Rectors of Universities of the State of São Paulo) last Tuesday (19) and explained its commitment to the autonomy of institutions. At the meeting, the entity asked that the financing of universities be included in the State's constitution – as is the case with financing from Fapesp (São Paulo State Research Support Foundation) – and that the calculation basis be changed of resources to be transferred to universities, given the prospect of tax reform, with the possibility of extinguishing the ICMS.
Rectors Carlos Carlotti, from USP, Pasqual Barretti, from Unesp, and Maria Luiza Moretti, acting rector of Unicamp, presented a proposal to modify the calculation base, currently limited to the state's share of the ICMS. The Council defends the adoption of an adjusted fraction of the State's total tax revenue, also as is the case with Fapesp.
According to Cruesp, the change would guarantee greater security and stability of transfers, fundamental conditions for a broader horizon of planning administrative, teaching, research and extension activities, ensuring the full exercise of university autonomy.
Today the Financing of state universities in São Paulo is carried out via the transfer of 9,57% of the State Quota (QPE) of the ICMS collected in the state of São Paulo. The QPE, in turn, is equivalent to 75% of the total ICMS collected, while the other 25% is allocated to municipalities, the so-called ICMS-QPM; of QPE, 5,0295% is allocated to USP, 2,3447% to Unesp and 2,1958% to Unicamp.
For the Pro-Rector of University Development (PRDU), Fernando Sarti, Universities discuss financing on two fronts: changing the São Paulo constitution and the tax base. Both aim to ensure greater security. “When we talk about science production and long-term planning, security is fundamental,” he argues. “Having peace of mind with your budget is essential because this is the only way to plan, hire and decide on investments in infrastructure”, explains the professor. For him, autonomy is one of the main factors for the quality of the State's three public universities.
According to Maria Luiza Moretti, the governor expressed interest in strengthening ties between public universities and São Paulo society. One way to achieve this, according to Garcia, would be to expand the role of Universities in training teachers and managers working in the public secondary education network. “We, at Cruesp, enthusiastically welcome this proposal to bring society closer together, especially with training actions for professionals to work in secondary education,” said Maria Luiza. The Secretary of Economic Development, Zeina Latif, also participated in the meeting.
