House Bill 2671's negative effect on Champaign-Urbana is felt both by students (over 500 classes have been cut, including some from the First-Year Discovery program) and by University employees, who tend to be permanent residents of the area (over 150 employees have been laid off). Further, the cuts to higher education are not fair or equal. All downstate university budgets were cut, while Chicago State University got an increase in funding over the governor's original budget request. The University of Illinois took an 8.1 percent budget hit. Naomi Jakobsson has continued to claim that she fought diligently for the University of Illinois (including a specific reference in her 2003 Legislative Update). The fact is, she voted to support the Senate Democrat's budget amendment on concurrence in the House. This budget amendment cut extra funds to the University that had been added by the House Higher Education Committee. Interestingly enough, the same vote gave extra dollars to Chicago State, $1.8 million more to be precise. Monti clearly you did not read the bill. Partisan politics stop here; come with the facts or don't come at all.