Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher's bare-bones budget for 2005-06 found room for a few juicy plums for Northern Kentucky, and now it's up to the General Assembly to preserve them.

The $15 billion budget includes $42 million for a special events arena at Northern Kentucky University and $14 million for Gateway Community and Technical College in Edgewood, where the money will be used to expand an associate degree program in nursing. NKU is the only public university in Kentucky without an on-campus arena.

Northern Kentucky leaders are thrilled Fletcher didn't forget this end of his state, which helped make him Kentucky's first Republican governor in 32 years. NKU recently opened a new $38 million natural science building, and the campus is still reeling from state budget cuts requiring tuition increases that could go as high as 15 percent to 20 percent next fall. Fletcher inherited a budget shortfall estimated at $1 billion, and already has warned that Kentucky colleges and universities would need to "make some sacrifices in the short term." NKU was not counting on a quick response to its wish list for a new arena.

Fletcher proposes to borrow and issue bonds for $328 million in higher education projects, including NKU's arena. He promised during his campaign to balance the budget without raising taxes, and true to his word, his budget roll-out Tuesday made no mention of increasing the 3-cent tax on a pack of cigarettes or legalizing casino gambling.

The ridiculously low cigarette tax is a sacred cow he should be willing to sacrifice, particularly if it could mean restoring some of the education budget cuts. The cuts to higher education required colleges and universities to return $41 million in spending authority, which NKU President James Votruba estimates will cost NKU $4 million this fiscal year. That loss will force tuition increases. Kentucky lawmakers will surely reshuffle Fletcher's budget, and an increase in the cigarette tax, second-lowest in the nation, may start to look more inviting.

Statewide, Fletcher's budget would fund more science and research buildings instead of more endowed professorships. Some dub the funding change "Bricks for Brains" instead of "Bucks for Brains." Fletcher calls regional universities "incubators of human capital." Kentucky lawmakers should back his budget investments in higher education and find ways to keep the tuition rates down.