Bill would open up U.'s financial records

Now, legislators are beginning to wonder exactly where this money is going. Tough fiscal times and recent spending scandals at major universities are increasing interest in enacting a Pennsylvania "Higher Education Right to Know" law, a measure which could require state-funded schools to make accounting information public. The state already has so-called "Sunshine Laws" for its cities and towns, which requires them to open their records and meetings to the public. But colleges in the state -- including the University -- are not officially "state actors" and are often allowed to keep their financial records under wraps. Schools and some of their friends in the legislature generally oppose the move to open the accounting books, arguing that open records would put them at a disadvantage in recruiting faculty and administrators. The most recent form of the law, House Bill 1075, drafted by House Education Chairperson Ronald Cowell (D--Allegheny), now sits in the Senate Education Committee awaiting consideration when lawmakers return to Harrisburg next month. It would apply to all schools currently receiving state funding, including the University. The bill would not force the University to open its meetings to the public. Cowell disagrees with the schools targeted by the bill, saying that right-to-know legislation could actually help them financially. "I pride myself on being an advocate for more adequate funding [for higher education]," Cowell said Wednesday. "It's easier to advocate more funding if there is confidence in how our state funding is being used, so I look to right-to-know language as a way to increase public confidence for us and increase public support for more adequate funding." The University currently has said thanks, but no thanks. "We'd prefer not to be in it in the present form," Assistant Vice President for Commonwealth Relations James Shada said this summer. Shada annually serves as the University's lobbyist in the state budget process. "It's early at this point since the education committee has not met on the bill, and we hear second- or third-hand that there will be changes on the bill," he said. While the House of Representatives passed funding bills for state-funded schools in early August, Cowell proposed a right-to-know amendment to the funding bills for Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, and Lincoln University similar to his bill in committee. The amendments passed by overwhelming five-to-one margins in the House, but were quickly stripped from the bills when they reached the Senate. Senate leaders said the amendments would stir debate and needlessly delay a solution to the state budget crisis, then a month overdue. House members did not attempt to tack the amendment onto spending bills for non-state related schools, like the University. Many, however, expressed interest in considering the separate bill that includes all state-aided schools when they return to Harrisburg. "My primary interest is with Pitt, Penn State, Temple, and Lincoln," Cowell said Wednesday. He added, however, that he does not oppose the inclusion of other schools, such as the University. Senator Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia), minority chairperson of the Senate Education Committee where the bill now sits, said in July he expects the bill to be amended to exclude all but the four state-related schools. The bill could alternatively be written to exclude schools, like the University, which receive less than five percent of their budget from the state. "I think it puts universities at a competitive disadvantage," said Fattah, whose congressional district includes the University campus. He added the proposal could be a "disincentive" in many university procedures, including negotiating salaries with employees. Under the broad language of the proposed law, salaries would become public knowledge, making competitive bargaining with potential recruits difficult. Although he said the same argument can be made for keeping state budget information private for state related schools, the larger state funding appropriations these schools receive may, in the eyes of lawmakers, justify making the information available to state taxpayers. But Cowell disagreed, pointing to schools functioning under similar laws in other states. "They seem to continue to operate very effectively," he said. In Pennsylvania, interest in a right-to-know law was heightened late this spring by disclosure of a multi-million dollar retirement package and $700,000 in low-interest mortgage loans offered to former Pitt President Wesley Posvar by the school's trustees. The scandal touched off a round of state investigations by Auditor General Barbara Hafer. In an early July session of the state Senate, for example, Senator Patrick Stapleton (D-Indiana) focused on the incident at Pitt in a speech calling for more rapid consideration of the right-to-know law. Cowell said his interest in passing the legislation has gone beyond this recent event. "I had introduced a bill before there was any coverage about the problems at Pitt, but the incidents at Pitt have given emphasis to the question," Cowell said. Federal investigations of the use of so-called "indirect research funding" at the University and other large research schools across the country has also generated concern. (CUT LINE) Please see BILL, page 4 BILL, from page 1

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