Iowa lawmakers look to delay funding for university projects

The shuffling, shifting and cutting of state support for Iowa's Board of Regents continued Thursday as lawmakers adjusted funding commitments for public infrastructure endeavors - potentially delaying at least two massive projects at Iowa State University.

House budget committee members agreed to delay $3 million in state support for ISU's new $57.7 million Advanced Teaching & Research Building and $9 million for its planned $84 million Student Innovation Center. They also supported pushing off $5.5 million for the University of Iowa's new $96.3 million pharmacy building from the 2018 budget year to 2019.

By approving an amended budget proposal for the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund - established more than a decade ago as the primary funding source for public infrastructure expenses - lawmakers postponed support for ISU's teaching and research building until 2019 and for its Student Innovation Center until 2020 - when the center is supposed to be finished.

ISU spokesman John McCarroll said construction for the teaching and research building project is well underway, with completion scheduled for next January, and 'funding delays certainly would impact the construction schedule.”

About the Student Innovation Center - which aims to add 140,000 square feet of student collaboration and technologically advanced space - McCarroll said Iowa State has signed construction contracts.

'So funding delays would have an adverse impact,” he said.

The innovation center, according to public documents, is relying on state appropriations for nearly half its $84 million budget.

McCarroll didn't respond to questions about whether Iowa State would have to amend its contract language - or potentially break its contracts - if the amended infrastructure budget receives final approval.

The university didn't immediately provide copies of the contracts - or details.

At the University of Iowa, school officials said construction of the 296,000-square-foot pharmacy building remains on track for completion in 2020 and they don't expect delayed state support to throw the project off track.

'Because project cash flows are based on estimates and can change over the course of a project, it is not uncommon for legislators to make adjustments within the ... budget from year to year,” Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president of finance and operations, told The Gazette in an emailed statement.

He added appreciation for the 'bipartisan support for this critical project, which will allow the College of Pharmacy to provide contemporary student education, and maintain the high level of patient care, drug discovery, product development and contract manufacturing.”

University of Iowa officials in 2012 called the existing pharmacy facility one of the worst on their deferred maintenance rolls, but Gov. Terry Branstad the following year vetoed $6 million for planning a new building, urging the university to first secure funding.

He again vetoed funding in 2014 before lawmakers finally agreed to contribute $64.3 million toward its construction - making it 'the largest academic building the state has ever supported,” UI President Bruce Harreld said at the facility's groundbreaking last year.

Upon hearing of the possible funding delays on Thursday, regent Larry McKibben expressed disappointment and vowed to let lawmakers know in the coming days.

'I intend to make some calls to the legislative leadership to tell them how important that is to the universities,” he said. 'I think backing those up would be a real mistake.”

Iowa's public universities have been inundated with bad news this session - taking the biggest de-appropriations hit in the current budget year and watching as the governor and lawmakers continue to downgrade appropriations proposals for next year.

'I think we're taking more of the cuts than we ought to be taking,” McKibben said. 'And that's the message we need to deliver to the legislature and to the governor.”

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