Bill Summary for Bill Number HB12-1252

Date: 02/27/2012

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB12-1252

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt prepared Amendment L.001 (Attachment I). The Refer House Bill 12-1252, as amended, to the Commi	Pass Without Objection PASS

01:51 PM -- House Bill 12-1252

Representative Nikkel, sponsor of House Bill 12-1252, presented the bill and distributed several handouts to the members of the committee (Attachments A through E). House Bill 12-1252 concerns the creation of an on-line database for a state institution of higher education's financial information. The bill requires that, no later than July 1, 2013, certain institutions of higher education develop, maintain, and make publicly available a searchable, on-line revenue and expenditure database. The bill requires that the institutions include the same information related to revenue and expenditures that is currently required of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

House Bill 11-1002 required that the CDOT develop and maintain a publicly accessible, searchable, on-line database of its revenue and expenditure data. That database is required to link to the state's existing Transparency On-line Project website, and meet the following requirements:

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revenue transaction detail must include the amount received, date received, source of revenue, reason for payment, account credited, and program for which moneys were received;

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expenditure transaction detail must include the amount expended, date expended, vendor that received the payment, purchase category, and fund from which the expenditure was made; and

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detail on payments made to employees is limited to the employee's personnel area, job title, and gross year-to-date payments.

In addition to that information, the bill requires that the institutions also supply current fiscal year information for each professor at the institution that includes: annual salary, total contributions paid as benefits, expense reimbursements, and any other payment made by the state institution of higher education to the professor. The database must also contain information on the number of classes the professor has taught and the amount of grant moneys the professor received. The database must be searchable and updated at least every five business days to include new transactions.

As introduced, the bill applies only to the following institutions of higher education:

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Colorado State University;

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University of Colorado;

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Colorado School of Mines; and

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University of Northern Colorado.

The following persons testified:

02:01 PM -- Terrance Tschatschula, representing himself, expressed opposition to the bill. Mr. Tschatschula stated that he opposes the bill because it does not bring anything new to the discussion of how we fund higher education in Colorado. He gave background of his work in approving budgets. Mr. Tschatschula responded to questions from the committee.

Representative Nikkel stated that this bill is not about how institutions of higher education should be funded, but it is about providing taxpayer transparency for the money that is being spent.

02:10 PM

Representative Solano asked why only four institutions of higher education are included in the bill. Representative Nikkel discussed the opposition she thought she would face in including all state-supported institutions of higher education, and stated that an amendment to be introduced will address and expand this.

02:12 PM -- Jim Cole, representing the Colorado School of Mines, expressed opposition to the bill. Mr. Cole provided background of the Colorado School of Mines and their focus. He stated that the school has 4,500 students, including graduate and undergraduate students. He described his reasons for opposing the bill. Mr. Cole responded to questions from the committee.

Representative Nikkel stated that we have a duty to the taxpayers of Colorado to make this information readily available to them, and that doing so is the right thing to do.

Committee discussion ensued.

02:22 PM

Committee discussion continued, with Representative Peniston asking if the system is going to be complex enough to show differences in instructors' responsibilities. Representative Nikkel referred the committee to page five of the printed bill, which outlines the information that would be required to be reported.

Representative Massey referred to page five, line 14, of the printed bill and suggested making a change to include student count.

Mr. Cole responded to additional questions from the committee.

02:28 PM -- Jessica Peck, representing the Open Government Institute, did not express a position on the bill. Ms. Peck provided information on the importance of accountability. She stated that the bill is a step in the right direction. She stated that students and parents are carrying institutions of higher education on their backs. She provided information on her involvement with the University of Colorado. She stated that we cannot hold universities accountable where citizens cannot see what is going on inside of them. She added that it is critical that we know about year-over-year increases to spending, as students are seeing tuition increases year after year.

02:37 PM

Ms. Peck responded to questions from the committee. The committee discussed the use of the information and how it will impact the public. Ms. Peck stated that it is about creating an environment of transparency. Representative Murray commented that this goes back to whatever is measured or revealed is paid attention to by the groups who run the institutions. She stated that when this knowledge becomes public, it will be treated differently by the groups making decisions at the institutional level.

Representative Beezley asked if Ms. Peck thinks that having this information available will help people make more rational decisions. Ms. Peck responded in the affirmative.

Representative Todd asked about the tax status of Ms. Peck's organization. Ms. Peck stated that Open Government Institute is a 501(c)3 organization. She provided the organization's web address: www.ogicolorado.org.

Representative A. Kerr asked, since the Open Government Institute is a tax-exempt organization, if Ms. Peck's salary information is available on the website. Ms. Peck responded that her organization complies with all disclosure requirements for a 501(c)3.

02:53 PM -- Regent Jim Geddes expressed support for the bill. Regent Geddes explained that he is not testifying on behalf of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, but that he is representing himself. Regent Geddes gave background of his experience as a student at the University of Colorado, and the increases he has observed in tuition levels since he was a student. He stated that he wants to see all qualified and motivated citizens in the state be able to attend the school at an affordable price. He stated that he thinks transparency will motivate the school to do the best they can with every dollar.

Regent Sue Sharkey joined Regent Geddes at the table. Regent Sharkey expressed support for the bill and stated that she is not representing the University of Colorado Board of Regents. She stated that she is representing herself as a parent of a student. Regent Sharkey stated that with the massive tuition hikes that have occurred, it is time that the public has a voice regarding the increases, but without access to that information, it is not possible for the public to hold institutions of higher education accountable. She stated that transparency promotes accountability and that the public should have easy access to this information. Regent Sharkey discussed student loan debt and the default rate. She added that this bill is not intended to expose wrongdoing, but to give taxpayers, parents, and students the ability to understand what is happening in the world of higher education.

Committee discussion ensued. Representative Todd asked if the information required by the bill is available to the Board of Regents. Regent Sharkey stated that it is. Representative Hamner followed up on Representative Todd's question, asking why then, are the regents not making this happen currently and why the regents are not sharing this information with their constituents. Regent Sharkey responded that most families would not know to call a regent for this information. She continued, stating that when families are sitting down to make the decision as to where their child is going to attend school, this information needs to be available to them so they do not struggle with who they should ask.

Regent Geddes added to Regent Sharkey's response, stating that the Board of Regents is made up of nine individuals who govern the university, and that the university is a big business and a bureacracy. He continued, stating that within the ranks of the university, there are lifetime employees who have a lot of influence concerning where the university goes, and that puts the regents at a handicap in focusing on the financial aspects of the school. He added that he feels it would be very fruitful for the public to have direct and immediate access to this information. He stated that it would be a far more fruitful and efficient manner than expecting the public to contact a regent when they are seeking this information.

Regent Sharkey added that she is working on drafting a resolution for the University of Colorado Board of Regents which asks the regents to support House Bill 12-1252.

03:15 PM

The committee discussed the fiscal note. Regent Geddes stated that he has a fiduciary responsibility to the students of the university and to the state, not the institution. He stated that he has heard that a program can be created to get this information into one database and that it won't be as costly as suggested. He added that the net savings to the taxpayer and to students paying tuition will be positive.

Regent Sharkey discussed the recent salaries raises that took place at the university and how the media and public have responded to this information. She stated that she has received e-mails and calls from many people who are outraged that this has occurred. She stated that, as a result of this information having been made public, the university has reversed the 15.7 percent tuition increase that it had planned to implement.

03:20 PM -- Matt Arnold, representing himself, expressed support for the bill. Mr. Arnold stated that lack of transparency is very much an issue and that transparency is the first step in gaining accountability. He stated that the information that came out in the media was through open records requests, but that this information should be readily accessible to taxpayers without having to do an open records request. He described his own experience with trying to locate this information, stating that the information is not in a searchable format and is not easily available to the public. He added that creating the database for this information would be a great graduate school project for Information Technology students.

03:28 PM -- Tosh Grebenik, student at the University of Colorado and representing himself, expressed support for the bill. Mr. Grebenik provided background of himself and his experience at the University of Colorado. He stated that he agrees that the bill will provide a greater level of accountability and disclosure, but he would like to also see administrative costs included in the disclosed information.

03:33 PM -- Greg Romberg, representing the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Broadcasters Association, expressed support for the bill. Mr. Romberg stated that basically all records are open to the public. He stated that he supports this bill because now that the information is public, we need to look at what is being done to help facilitate the public in finding this information. He stated that the bill creates a more efficient way for people to access the information, rather than having to go to the government for each request.

Representative Peniston asked if Mr. Romberg would prefer the bill to include all positions at the universities. Mr. Romberg responded that what is important is what the public finds most important, and that in general, he believes that the concept of having more information available is important.

Representative A. Kerr asked if the Colorado Press Association would welcome an amendment that would require all Colorado institutions of higher education to be included in the provisions of the bill. Mr. Romberg responded that the Colorado Press Association would be supportive of making more information available.

03:38 PM -- Linda Williams, representing herself, expressed support for the bill. Ms. Williams gave background of herself and her desire to be involved in her children's education.

03:44 PM -- Amy Oliver Cooke, representing the Transparency Project, expressed support for the bill. Ms. Cooke provided handouts to the committee (Attachments F though H). Ms. Cooke gave background of her experience in attempting to answer the question of what drives costs at institutions of higher education in Colorado. She discussed her recent experience of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on behalf of her son and the amount of personal information she was required to disclose. She stated that she thinks that institutions of higher education should be required to turn over that same level of information to her. She stated that Colorado ranks as one of the states with the highest default rates on student loans. She described her work to gather financial information from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) and the challenges she went through.

03:56 PM

Representative Massey distributed Amendment L.001 (Attachment I) and explained that the amendment causes all Colorado institutions of higher education that receive College Opportunity Fund (COF) monies to comply with the requirements of the bill.

Ed DeCecco, Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee regarding the bill's language.


BILL:	HB12-1252
TIME:	03:57:00 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Adopt prepared Amendment L.001 (Attachment I). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Holbert
		VOTE
	Hamner
	Holbert
	Joshi
	Kerr A.
	Murray
	Peniston
	Ramirez
	Schafer S.
	Solano
	Summers
	Todd
	Beezley
	Massey

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB12-1252
TIME:	03:58:12 PM
MOVED:	Ramirez
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 12-1252, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 10-3.
SECONDED:	Beezley
		VOTE
	Hamner	No
	Holbert	Yes
	Joshi	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Ramirez	Yes
	Schafer S.	Yes
	Solano	No
	Summers	Yes
	Todd	No
	Beezley	Yes
	Massey	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS