Iowa lawmaker proposes sharing the athletic wealth with UNI

DES MOINES — Athletic departments at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University would be required to transfer a yearly share of sports-related revenue to the University of Northern Iowa under legislation being pushed by a state legislator.

Sen. David Johnson, an independent from Ocheyedan, is seeking to require UI and ISU transfer a total of $4.3 million for each of the next five years to the UNI athletic department. The prorated amounts beginning July 1 would be $2.5 million from Iowa and $1.8 million from ISU.

'Athletics at the University of Northern Iowa should not be subsidized by student tuition and any general fund money,' said Johnson, who sponsored Senate File 95. 'This is a way to be good neighbors in the public university system. Since the athletic budgets are so much larger at Iowa and Iowa State, they should help provide a little bit of tuition relief at UNI.'

The state Board of Regents is seeking a 2 percent increase in general-fund appropriations for the three state universities, plus an extra $2.5 million for UNI, so Johnson said a recognition already exists over the funding inequities. Athletic revenue at regent universities is separate from the state's general fund appropriations process, but Johnson said Wednesday he believed the arrangement could and should be worked out.

'It's an idea. I've introduced this before and it didn't have broad appeal, but at some point we should fix that,' he said. 'If I were a student at UNI, I wouldn't want my tuition going to be going to help balance the books for the athletic departments.'

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