Despite political donations, Regents argue actions remain apolitical

Over the past 16 years, Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter has made more than $1.4 million in political contributions, including more than $329,000 in 2014, most of which went to Republicans.

The majority of Rastetter's gifts benefited candidates and groups in Iowa. But he also gave hundreds of thousands over the years and in 2014 to campaigns at the federal level and in at least 20 other states, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a not-for-profit organization that compiles campaign donor information from government disclosure agencies nationwide.

Some observers have questioned whether a person's political contributions can be tied to his or her actions on a board or institution.

Rastetter was far and away the top campaign contributor among the current regents during the most recent campaign season, although several others made donations — including Milt Dakovich at more than $18,000, Larry McKibben at about $1,000, and Katie Mulholland at more than $500, according to the national institute and state records.

And according to an Iowa Watch analysis of the state's top individual campaign donors in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, Rastetter ranked second with a total $359,540.

But political giving is nothing new for members of the Board of Regents, in Iowa and nationally, according to industry experts. In fact, Iowa Code acknowledges they each have personal political leanings by requiring that no more than five of the nine members be of the same political party.

'It's not uncommon, and there isn't anything inherently wrong with the process,' said Richard Legon, Washington, D.C.-based Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges president. 'The truth is, we have about 10,000 men and women who serve on public institution boards, and most of them are appointed through some political process.'

They are charged, upon beginning their service, with providing oversight independent of political leanings or ties, Legon said.

'...

It can work. I have seen it work,' he said.

'I try not to mix politics'

Rastetter told The Gazette that he believes strongly in having 'unbiased oversight of the institutions.'

He said the board, since his appointment in 2011, has had mostly unanimous votes. Very few issues have been split along party lines, and Rastetter said that shows politics do not play a significant role in the oversight of Iowa's public institutions.

'We don't think of ourselves as Democrats or Republicans when we sit around the board table,' Rastetter said. 'We think about what's best for the universities.'

Rastetter said the board does have to engage itself politically when requesting funding from the Legislature and the governor. And, he said, the board has been successful of late, receiving appropriation increases.

'I try to have positive results,' he said, 'and I try not to mix politics.'

Rastetter said he's the main person in charge of lobbying for the regents' budget, and he believes any success the board has had in that area relates to its mission and efforts to achieve it.

'I think it's based on the merits of the requests that we make and our ability to be transparent, and the belief by the Legislature and the governor that we are working hard to improve the universities and efficiently spend state tax dollars' Rastetter said.

The Board of Regents in the past year launched an efficiency review of its public universities and approved a new funding model tied to enrollment and performance metrics. The new model could take millions from the University of Iowa to be split between Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa, and the board has asked the Legislature for a 1.75 percent appropriations increase and an extra $12.9 million to prevent the UI from taking a hit in the new funding model's first year.

As for his political contributions, Rastetter said, they are 'well noted, and they are documented.'

'And one of the things about my contributions is that everyone I contribute to knows that I have a passion for supporting higher education,' he said. 'When I support someone, I want them to know I have high expectations of them supporting the public institutions.'

In 2014, Rastetter gave about $60,000 each to the campaigns of Gov. Terry Branstad and Speaker of the House Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha. Paulsen ran unopposed but gave money to the Republican Party and other political candidates.

'Doesn't trouble me'

Paulsen said campaign contributions don't affect his decision making.

'But I think the public should constantly ask that question, so that officials have that in the back of their mind,' Paulsen said.

Christopher Larimer, a UNI political science professor, said regents' political contributions are well publicized and widely accepted. But, Larimer said, he finds that somewhat surprising.

'I think it's unusual that people aren't upset about it. It's unusual that people aren't taken aback by it,' he said. 'But we are accustomed to those big-name folks giving. We accept that they are going to make large contributions, and that's the end of it.'

Regent Bob Downer, who has been on the board since 2003, said he doesn't think anything has changed over the years. There always have been political donors on the board with — in some cases — strong political ties personally, he said.

In his more than 11 years as a regent, Downer said, only one vote has been down party lines.

'To have only one matter have been voted on strictly red versus blue, so to speak, my take on that is that it's not a very serious problem,' Downer said.

In addition to campaign contributions, Rastetter said he's given to the universities themselves — including more than $5 million to UI, $2.5 million for an endowed chair at ISU, and scholarship funding to UNI.