Reynolds shortchanges regents

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ budget proposal for the state’s three universities is shortsighted, misguided and denies funding to several promising programs. The Board of Regents sought a $40 million increase in university funding. The governor is proposing $12.3 million.

The Gazette’s Vanessa Miller dug into Reynolds’ budget plan and found a series of puzzling decisions.

Reynolds denied $10 million funding for a University of Iowa initiative to address workforce challenges and the growing needs of Iowa’s elderly population faced by rural health care providers. She deleted $10 million of funding for an Iowa State University STEM Workforce Initiative intended to support the state’s manufacturers and produce workers for in-demand jobs.

Reynolds also failed to provide $2.5 million to the University of Northern Iowa for its “Educators in Iowa Initiative” intended to recruit more students to become teachers.

So, in the governor’s view, programs addressing a critical lack of health care options in rural areas, a shortage of skilled workers and the state’s ongoing teacher shortage didn’t deserve funding. These are some of the most pressing problems facing our state. It makes no sense to deny funding.

On top of those wrongheaded decisions, Reynolds axed a $1 million request for expanded mental health services on campuses. Student leaders lobbied the Board of Regents to include the modest proposal in its budget request, but the governor apparently didn’t see the need.

“Increased funding is necessary to better expand counseling services to students, lower wait times to meet with mental health professionals, and broaden options for support to better students’ academic and personal needs,” student governments argued in a letter to the board in September.

But the governor deemed the proposal unnecessary, even as a school shooting in Perry prompted new urgency to stem the tide of violence threatening students.

These funding denials fit a disappointing pattern of Statehouse leaders neglecting the needs of state universities. The 2.5 increase in general funding to universities doesn’t even keep up with inflation. The result will almost undoubtedly be another round of tuition increases hitting Iowa families.

Couple bad budget decisions with culture war shots taken by lawmakers at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts on campus and at curriculum that makes majority Republicans uncomfortable, it seems the Legislature has little interest in supporting the economic engines universities provide.

But Reynolds’ budget is not the final word. Lawmakers can still direct funding to these initiatives. With billions of dollars held in surplus, we know Iowa can afford it.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com