BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana State University’s push for exemptions from the job protections, purchasing provisions and construction rules that govern other state agencies is running into a tight timeline for legislative decision-making and concern about the sweeping nature of the changes.
Whether the university and a group of businessmen hoping to ease LSU funding cuts can persuade lawmakers to loosen restrictions on the school’s bureaucratic requirements will be one of the central debates tied to the higher education budget.
Among the concerns is that the management freedoms could lead to lax oversight and less accountability for Louisiana’s flagship university at a time when lawmakers are pushing for improved performance and more spending transparency.
“The overarching problem for all of these proposals right now is that they’re so close to the budget, and we’re in a short (legislative) session,” said House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown. “How many of them can really be vetted properly before we decide? And without having the right answers, people are going to be very leery of turning people loose.”
The regular session begins April 25 and only lasts two months. The proposals, pushed by the university and a group of businessmen called the Louisiana Flagship Coalition, are complex and could require lengthy, detailed legislation to be enacted. The new budget year begins July 1.
LSU Chief Financial Officer Eric Monday said the changes could reduce campus costs by $85 million over five years and put it in line with similar schools in North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Virginia that he said have more management flexibility.
He said LSU is not seeking an end to reporting requirements and oversight by state officials.
“This in no way is trying to move away from accountability,” Monday said.
The proposals include removal from the state’s civil service requirements, pension rules, health benefits system, insurance program, construction rules, procurement code and facilities management system.
LSU estimates the moves could shrink its nearly 5,000-person staff by 115 jobs, generate significant savings, quicken the pace of building projects and eliminate reams of state-required paperwork.
To show potential savings, supporters of the changes describe state regulations for purchases that increase the costs for scientific equipment like beakers and gloves by as much as 37%, rather than allowing the school to buy supplies at the lowest market price.
Gov. Bobby Jindal has said he supports giving LSU more autonomy, in return for improved performance, but he hasn’t endorsed specific recommendations yet. He’s also said he’d want to make some of the changes available to other public colleges in the state.
“If you look at models of what some universities do, flagship universities across the country, they’re not wrapped up in the state red tape,” said Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, the governor’s chief budget adviser.
Tucker and other lawmakers said they’ll need to wade into details before they could commit to letting LSU opt out of programs and regulations.
For example, Tucker pointed to the procurement code requiring competitive bids and approvals for certain types of work and supply buying.
“You have to be very, very careful because that’s where you run into problems with brother-in-law deals, that kind of stuff,” Tucker said.
On the state construction budgeting process, Tucker said he doesn’t see lawmakers agreeing to just “write them a check and let them go” without safeguards and reporting requirements.
If university leaders and the flagship coalition can persuade lawmakers to back the ideas, part of the negotiations are expected to hinge on the campus budget.
Some supporters of the proposals have said the changes could make LSU more self-sufficient and less reliant on state funding to operate its campus. But Monday said the goal isn’t to generate savings that would then be used to offset cuts in state funding. Instead, he said the goal is to let the school invest the savings into performance improvements and to make the university more competitive with its peers.
“These are things we need to be a great institution,” Monday said.
However, Tucker said he thinks lawmakers will be more interested in making regulatory changes for the school if they can use the savings to help with the state’s budget problems.
“I don’t think we’re going to allow them to generate the savings and keep them all at LSU. What benefit is that to the general fund?” he said.
