Some Pa. senators say they won’t approve more than $31 million in state funding for Penn Vet until Liz Magill resigns

More than $31 million in state funding is on the line for the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school, adding to the hundreds of millions of dollars Penn may lose due to president Liz Magill’s comments to Congress earlier this week.

Several Pennsylvania state senators from both parties said they will not vote to approve Penn Vet’s funding until Magill resigns. The Pennsylvania House approved Penn Vet’s funding in May, but it still requires a two-thirds majority of the state Senate to approve for the school to actually get its funds.

Penn Vet is the state’s only veterinary school and has received state funding since 1889. The partnership between the state and Penn Vet helps the agriculture community complete field testing and monitoring for livestock and poultry diseases, among other responsibilities.

Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R., York) said Penn Vet provides vital research and resources to farmers and the agricultural community across the state. But Magill’s comments disqualify the university from receiving state funds until she resigns.

“I could not support their funding until someone could come into the university and shut down the antisemitism,” Phillips-Hill said. “This is not a partisan issue. I will not vote to fund this institution until she resigns.”

Funding for Pennsylvania’s state-related universities — Temple, Pitt, Penn State, and Lincoln University — has become fraught in recent years, as some House Republicans have used the high vote threshold to demand more transparency from the schools or take political stances against the research or medical services they provide. Penn remains a private school, but a two-thirds vote from the General Assembly is still required to release funds to its veterinary school to continue its partnerships with the state.

Now lawmakers from both parties seem ready to use the state funding as leverage.

Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D., Bucks) was one of the first state lawmakers to condemn Magill’s comments, and said in a news release that he’d vote against Penn Vet’s funding until Magill resigns.

“We have come too far for someone who would respond in such a manner to be the leader of one of our country’s great research universities,” Santarsiero added.

A 2017 report estimated that state funding made up 22% of the veterinary school’s operating revenue.

House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) told The Inquirer that Magill’s comments were “absolutely shameful” and Penn’s future state funding will require her to resign and for Penn to prove it is keeping students safe from antisemitism on campus.

“We need to ensure a safe place for our students,” Cutler added.

But not all lawmakers want to penalize Penn Vet for Magill’s comments.

Sen. Judy Schwank (D., Berks), who chairs a newly formed Jewish Caucus, said in a statement that Magill’s comments were “hurtful, unacceptable and extremely damaging to the university.” However, Schwank does not believe that Penn Vet’s funding should be withheld.

“I don’t want to see the faculty, staff and students at Penn Vet punished for Magill’s ill-conceived comments, and I hope she does the right thing and resigns sooner rather than later,” Schwank added.

A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro said the governor would examine whatever funding bills make their way to his desk for his signature.