A measure aimed at streamlining the governance of Louisiana’s higher education by merging its four management boards and the overarching Board of Regents into one new governing body – the Louisiana Postsecondary Education Board of Trustees – was effectively killed by one vote in the House Education Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 152, by Rep. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, sought to do away with the boards of supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, the Louisiana State University System, the Southern University System, and the community and technical colleges system.
It also would have eliminated the Board of Regents, an umbrella organization overseeing the state’s higher education operations that Edmonds argued has become increasingly feckless.
“The one word that echoes is the word, ‘authority.’ Who has the authority to say, ‘This is how we’re doing it?’” Edmonds asked fellow lawmakers. “Some [boards] are confused about their boundaries.”
Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport, a longtime board consolidation advocate who pulled his similar bill to back the measure by Edmonds, said the Board of Regents only has the power to suggest higher education policy, not enforce it.
“If we were going to start today, we would not create a five-board system for Louisiana,” Carmody said. “We don’t have a delineation of authority by one board to implement a master plan.”
Only 10 other states have single higher education governing board such as the one proposed in Edmonds’ bill.
Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said Edmonds and Carmody were trying to foist upon Louisiana other states’ models unlikely to succeed in this state, and she worried the downsizing could silence the voices of Louisiana’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
“LSU will be the guiding force on a single board, forcing out HBCUs and slowly minimizing their funding,” Smith said. “I have a major concern about this [plan]. It doesn’t seem to be a right fit.”
Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, voted against Edmonds’ bill, saying the most pressing issue staring down Louisiana higher education was funding, not management.
He also raised the possibility of eliminating all boards, allowing institutions to develop unique policies to suit their individual needs and better compete in the marketplace.
“It’s hard for me to imagine making such a dramatic change in an environment where we continually disinvest in higher ed,” Leger said.
LSU System Board of Supervisors chair Ray Lasseigne and Southern System Board chair Leon Tarver testified against the bill, citing several cost-saving, consolidation measures their systems have under taken in recent years.
“The answer isn’t to tighten the belt,” Tarver said.
Edmonds’ bill, which is opposed by Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office, failed in a 5-6.