Some legislators call for tighter control of university expenses
Published Feb. 10, 2006
Just budgeting money for higher education isn't enough for some Missouri legislators.
Those individuals want more oversight on universities spending state funds by directing those funds to specific purposes in a process called line-iteming.
Under Missouri law, state universities must make budget requests to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, which forwards the requests to the governor.
Although the universities' budgets must clear the board, legislators have little say in how the funds are ultimately spent.
Line-iteming would give legislators direct control of university expenses.
Rep. Brian Baker, R-Belton, said he thinks legislators should have a closer relationship to universities that spend state funds.
"We want to make sure that money is not being wasted," Baker said.
Baker cited a recent raise in UM system President Elson Floyd's salary, which Floyd later donated to the UM system campuses, and a possible 6 percent tuition increase as examples of UM system expenses that had not been adequately explained to legislators.
"If you give the university president a pay raise and tuition rates go up, we want to know why that happened," Baker said.
Several representatives said they did not support line-iteming and that legislators should trust universities to determine their own budgets.
"The legislators' job is to oversee the expenditures to the universities," Rep. Barbara Fraser, D-St. Louis, said. "This keeps the funding for higher education away from political animosity or negativity."
Other representatives, including Rep. Sally Faith, R-St. Charles, said line-iteming is beyond the duties of a state representative.
"I believe that local universities' control is important and the university's board of curators and elected trustees are the individuals responsible for the best way to allocate their funds," Faith said.
Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, said though he opposed the idea of giving the General Assembly the right to line-item universities' expenses, universities could be more efficient spenders.
"It could be improved," Robb said. "Obviously, universities could make much better use of technology with respect to administration. Most universities are looking at those options and haven't put those plans in place."
Baker also proposed splitting the House Education Funding Committee into two committees, with one for elementary- and secondary-education funding and one for higher-education funding. Baker said this would allow legislators to pay closer attention to higher education and monitor university costs.
Robb said he did not see a correlation between splitting the committees and controlling expenses.
The education funding committee approved a $17 million increase to higher-education funding Tuesday.
Rep. Joe Aull, D-Marshall, said the committee agreed with the increase without any changes.
The bill will now go to the budget committee, which will not meet until all appropriations committees finalize their own funding recommendations.
"I hope that the budget committee would accept our recommendation, but they can actually do what they want with our recommendation on higher-education funding," Aull said.