Bill to increase transparency of Pennsylvania’s universities passes House
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An effort supporters say will boost transparency in several leading Pennsylvania universities passed the House of Representatives on Monday, while the universities’ annual state subsidies remain snarled in the Legislature in a partisan funding dispute.
“These institutions receive hundreds of millions of dollars each and every year to educate our children and as parents and taxpayers, we should know more about what these institutions are doing with these dollars,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kate Klunk, R- York, said during floor debate.
The bill contains of list of information of what universities must disclose under Pennsylvania’s open records law, although the schools publicly release some of the information already. University leaders say they support the measure.
Universities would be required to list the salaries of all officers and directors, as well as up to the 200 highest-paid employees, plus faculty salary ranges. They would have to disclose enrollment and staff employment figures. The universities would have to report how much money is brought in and spent each year, and would have to file a list of contracts exceeding $5,000 to the governor’s office and Legislature.
The universities also would be required to publicly release open meeting minutes from their boards of trustees.
The bill passed as hundreds of millions of dollars remain in Legislative limbo for the four universities.
They are in line to receive about $623 million, a 7% increase proposed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro. But House Republicans chafed at that request, saying that tuition increases had been too steep and that the system needed more transparency and reform.
The Republicans repeatedly denied the necessary two-thirds majority needed to send the funds to the schools. Democrats who control the House of Representatives
The Senate is due back on Nov. 13.
Brooke Schultz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.