HAYS, Kan. -- Dr. Edward H. Hammond, president of Fort Hays State University, praised Gov. Mark Parkinson this morning for his sense of history and endorsed the budget outlined by the governor in his State of the State speech on Monday night.

"Gov. Parkinson took a major step in trying to protect the heritage of the state of Kansas from the impact of the fiscal crisis we face," President Hammond said. "I always knew he valued higher education, but last night in his State of the State address, he showed that he values the future of the state even more."

The governor said the state founders had a vision that was elegant and concise: "If you want to keep the best and brightest in a state, you must create a great higher education system to retain them. If you want to attract the best and brightest from other states, you must have great higher education. If you want to provide a workforce for the future, you build great universities, technical schools and community colleges."

He unveiled a plan to come up with $400 million by raising the cigarette and tobacco tax from 79 cents a pack to the national average of $1.34 and by raising the state sales tax by one cent for a temporary period of 36 months.

"This budget allows us to reinstate some funding of schools and universities as we begin their road to recovery," the governor said on Monday night.

President Hammond said the governor's basic position was that the state could not cut education and social services any more without permanently damaging its future.

"State funding for higher education already has been cut by $106 million, which takes support for the Kansas Board of Regents system back to the funding level of three years ago," the president said. "As a result, 750 jobs have been eliminated and more than 450 programs and classes have been eliminated or curtailed. Gov. Parkinson's proposal to invest more in the future of Kansas was a brave and important demonstration of leadership. There is no doubt in my mind that the future of our state will depend on what the Legislature does with his budget proposal."