This Week at the Statehouse – Week 2
This week was a shorter week as the General Assembly honored Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday.
There were two subcommittee meetings this week on bills the Board of Regents are registered in opposition. SF 41 would eliminate tenure in the state public universities. Dr. Rachel Boon, Chief Academic Advisory for the Iowa Board of Regents, testified about the value of tenure in our universities, and why the Board strongly desires to continue its careful management of the tenure systems at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. In addition, UNI’s Associate Provost John Valentine was also in attendance and provided testimony to the importance of tenure. At this time, members of the subcommittee did not sign the subcommittee report to move the bill to full committee for consideration.
The second bill, HSB 513, puts restrictions on competitive bidding processes required for Regents facilities projects. Besides the Regents being in opposition to the bill, it is also opposed by the Master Builders of Iowa, Design Build Institute of America - Mid-American Region, Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Mechanical Contractors Association of Iowa, electrical contractors (NECA-Iowa), Plumbers and Steam Fitters Local 33 and the Iowa Federal of Labor. At this time, the bill may go before the full House Local Government Committee for consideration.
We will continue to lobby against both these bills.
The Legislature also continues to work on the state’s budget. On Wednesday, staff from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) provided the Education Budget Subcommittee a review of the Governor’s fiscal year (FY) 18 and FY 19 budget recommendations. For UNI, the Governor has funded our budget line-items for FY 19 the same as the current fiscal year. In addition, she is requesting an increase of $7.25 million to the Regents, to be determined by the Board.
Governor Reynolds is also recommending cutting the Regents budget by $5.1 million for the current fiscal year (FY 18) but those cuts would come from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. The Board of Regents has stated that “each of our institutions has different budget and economic models. If enacted by the legislature, the Board would prefer to hold the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa School for the Deaf and Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School harmless from any required FY 18 reductions, as they are the institutions most dependent on state appropriations.”
Information on the Governor’s budget recommendations for FY 18 and FY 19, in regards to the Board of Regents and other education departments funded within the Legislature’s Education Appropriations Subcommittee, can be found here. There are historical funding tables at the end of this document that show UNI’s general aid budget appropriation is nearly $2.1 million less than our state appropriation from FY 09.
LSA staff on the Transportation, Infrastructure & Capitals Budget Subcommittee also presented the Governor’s budget recommendations this week. The Governor is not recommending funding UNI’s budget request to renovate and expand the Industrial Technology Center. However, she is recommending $3 million to the Board of Regents for fire safety and deferred maintenance with the distribution made by the Board. Details of her infrastructure recommendations from LSA can be found here.
Upcoming Presentations at the Capitol:
January 31 – UNI’s Business and Community Services will present our economic development programs and budget request to the Economic Development Budget Subcommittee
February 14 – President Nook will present UNI’s budget requests to the Education Budget Subcommittee
#UNIDay2018 at the Capitol is February 19th! Check out our tweets at @nipanthercaucus