Show us the savings

The state's serious budget difficulties make it necessary for Iowa legislators to consider any and all ideas for saving scarce dollars.

And that includes legislation introduced last week that seeks to consolidate administrative functions at Iowa's three state universities under a single entity with one president.

Backers of the bill, filed by state Rep. Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, contend it could save $62 million annually, or about 1 percent of the universities' overall budget. Upmeyer and the group, Iowans for Tax Relief, which first floated the idea, contends those savings could come through consolidating payroll, information technology, library acquisition and other administrative services.

“This is not an opportunity to beat up on regents,” Upmeyer, a University of Iowa graduate, said last week, insisting her intent is to keep costs under control with an eye on rising tuition costs.

We commend that sentiment. But Upmeyer and her allies must work hard to convince us that such a major structural change is a good idea for the universities, students and state.

The University of Wisconsin's system of 13 campuses is administered by a single president and chancellors on each campus. Students attending those schools pay higher tuitions than students attending Iowa universities, Wisconsin's system has a higher percentage of administrators and campus chancellors are paid like university presidents.

Those realities take some of the shine off the possibility of reorganization here, although backers of the idea say Iowa's system could be different from its neighbor's to the northeast.

Too often, it seems, government consolidation ends up spawning more expensive bureaucracy than it eliminates.

Reorganization often creates a larger entity to manage, and management positions added to handle the job may outnumber positions eliminated. When the dust settles, dreams of savings evaporate. Instead of shrinking government, a new layer of bureaucracy is born.

That's not to say in this instance that lawmakers can't figure out a strategy that could achieve real savings. But they should be careful to avoid approving anything that does not make universities not only leaner but better.

In the meantime, moves by the universities may preclude the need for legislative tinkering.

The University of Northern Iowa plans to ask the Board of Regents to approve a plan for consolidating its College of Humanities and Fine Arts with its College of Natural Sciences. The university also is seeking to combine its Department of English Language and Literature with its Department of Modern Language. UNI contends both moves will lead to critical budget savings.

We're eager to hear more ideas, both from the campuses and the Statehouse.