Bill Caption

Relating to the amount and allocation of the annual constitutional appropriation to certain agencies and institutions of higher education.

Fiscal Notes

State Impact

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB1191, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($262,500,004) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.

No significant impact to local government.

Bill Analysis

SB 1191 would reallocate Higher Education Fund appropriations between eligible recipient institutions and increase the annual constitutional allocation beginning in fiscal year 2016. Notably, this bill would increase the total annual appropriation from $262,500,500 to $393,750,002. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

This bill would abridge the principle of limited government, therefore we oppose this legislation. Our principle of limited government can be affected by an increase or decrease in spending.  This is a significant increase in spending for higher education and there is no compelling reason for the increase.  Increasing entitlements to schools does not guarantee better performance or quality of education. There should be a legitimate purpose for spending more money on higher education institutions. This bill does not show that there is one.

We would like to note that a bill that would have only reallocated spending for higher education would have been acceptable. This bill, again, does propose an increase in spending.