SPRINGFIELD—A bill that would tie tuition to the higher education price index failed Wedneday to pass the Illinois House of Representatives subcommittee on higher education.

At a hearing to discuss house bill 2904, nine committee members voted in favor while seven opposed it. Three committee members were not present. The bill needed at least 10 members in favor for it to go to the full house for a second reading.

The bill applies for in-state and out-of-state tuition. Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, told Rep. James Keane, D-Chicago, who sponsors the bill, out-of-state tuition often rises higher than in-state tuition.

“You might want to consider this in your bill.”

Keane said the Illinois Board of Higher Education has a policy of holding tuition to one-third of the total cost to run a university. Board of Regents lobbyist Phil Adams said the other two-thirds is supposed to come from the state.

Keane said students in the Regency governing system, which includes NIU, are paying about 38 percent while students in the University of Illinois governing system are paying about 44 percent.

“We’re looking at 44 percent,” he said. “We have to stop that. It is not a tough, tough bill. We’re really not putting a cap on tuition. The higher education price index is generally higher than the consumer price index. We’re giving them more than inflation.”

But NIU President John LaTourette called the bill “another kind of legislative rip-off,” while Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves said it was unnecessary. Both spoke before the hearing at the Regents meeting at Sangamon State University.

“It think it’s a farce,” LaTourette said. “It’s abrigating the (legislature’s) responsibility for adequate support for higher education.”

LaTourette said if tuition is tied to the index, universities would be able to raise tuition only about 5 percent. If the legislature does not provide enough funding and a tuition hike tied to the index also does not provide enough support, NIU would be forced to cut enrollment and services.

“It’s a cop-out now for the legislature to validate its failures to support higher education by placing a limit on tuition increases each year,” he said. “The proposed legislation deals only with the surface (of the) problem, not the cause—the failure of the state to provide support over a long period of time.”

Groves said higher education executives have been cautious in the past about tuition increases.

Higher education officials testifying at the hearing against the bill said it removes the flexibility governing boards need to have in setting tuition. IBHE Deputy Director Ross Hodel said, “Tuition is an important issue,” which governing boards and the legislature should deal with every year.

U of I lobbyist Kirk Hard said, “The responsibility for setting tuition (at U of I-Champaign and U of I-Chicago) is the University of Illinois Trustees’. We face severe economic problems when we receive inadequate support from the General Assembly.”

Illinois Student Association President David Starrett and SSU Student Regent Brian Hopkins, who favor the bill, said it does not force universities to raise tuition if the index increases. Hard said last week tuition hikes would be mandatory.

Testifying at the hearing, Starrett said, “Tuition has tripled since 1974 and it threatens to quadruple at the the University of Illinois. Since 1976, tuition has risen about 2.5 percent more than the higher education price index. This (supporting HB 2904) was not an easy choice to make.”

Countryman voted for the bill but was unavailable for comment after the hearing.

Starrett said the bill can be heard in the committee one more time, and, if it does not pass, it dies. Adams said Keane also could attach this bill as an amendment to another one.