BISMARCK - The House today voted 64-29 in favor of an amended higher education spending bill that would result in tuition increases and several cuts to the university system.
Earlier today, the House voted 59-34 in favor of the amendments to House Bill 1003, and then members took up the entire bill.
In total, the amendments to the bill remove nearly $35 million from what the governor recommended for higher education, said Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, chairman of the subcommittee that recommended the cuts.
Rep. Eliot Glassheim, D-Grand Forks, opposed the amendments and asked members to send the bill back to the committee for more work.
"We've got to invest in mining the human talents of our state so we will create our future smart people who will make our state strong," Glassheim said.
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Skarphol said higher education is unwilling to change or adapt.
"I think we're generous, probably beyond what we should be, until they demonstrate a willingness to change," Skarphol said.
The cuts include:
- Removing $6.6 million intended to limit tuition increases, resulting in tuition increases of up to 4.1 percent. Gov. Jack Dalrymple proposed a tuition freeze for two-year schools and a cap on tuition increases of 2.5 percent for universities.
- Removing $10 million in equity funding. NDSU would have received the largest chunk of that funding at nearly $4.7 million.
- Removing $5 million that Dalrymple proposed for performance funding that would be allocated based on how campuses perform on certain measures, such as students graduating on time.
- Removing $8 million for the Valley City State University Rhoades Science Center, which the state Board of Higher Education made its No. 2 priority.
- Removing $8.8 million for a library at Dickinson State University that was included in Dalrymple's budget.
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The bill will now go to the Senate for additional work.
The vote breakdown for the 69-24 vote was:
Yeas: Anderson, Bellew, Belter, Boe, Boehning, Brabandt, Brandenburg, Carlson, Clark, Conklin, D. Johnson, Damschen, De-Krey, Delzer, Devlin, Dosch, Frantsvog, Froseth, Grande, Hatlestad, Head-land, Heller, Hofstad, J. Nelson, Karls, Kasper, Keiser, Kempenich, Klein, Klemin, Koppelman, Kreidt, Kretschmar, Kreun, L. Meier, M. Nelson, Maragos, Martinson, Monson, Nathe, Owens, Paur, Pollert, Porter, R. Kelsch, Rohr, Ruby, Rust, Sanford, Schatz, Schmidt, Skarphol, Streyle, Sukut, Thoreson, Trottier, Vigesaa, Wall, Weiler, Weisz, Wieland, Williams, Wrangham, Drovdal.
Nays: Amerman, Beadle, Dahl, Delmore, Glassheim, Gruchalla, Guggisberg, Hanson, Hawken, Heilman, Hogan, Holman, Hunskor, J. Kelsh, Kaldor, Kili-chowski, Kingsbury, Kroe-ber, Metcalf, Mock, Muel-ler, N. Johnson, Onstad, Pietsch, S. Kelsh, S. Meyer, Steiner, Winrich, Zaiser
Absent: Louser.
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