House committee alters makeup of postsecondary performance‑funding work group; bill passes

Representative James Tipton, chairing the House Outstanding Committee on Postsecondary Education, outlined and the committee approved changes to the membership and schedule of the state's performance‑based funding work group during the committee's fourth meeting.

Tipton said the committee substitute for House Bill 276 would make the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) a nonvoting chair of the work group and convert the nine campus presidents (eight public four‑year presidents plus the president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, KCTCS) to nonvoting advisory members. "The president of CPE would be a non voting member and would serve as the chair of the work group," Tipton said. "All 9 presidents . . . will also be non voting members on the work group." He told the committee the voting membership would be three members from the House, three members from the Senate, the state budget director and one gubernatorial appointee.

The nut graf: proponents said the change is intended to reduce deadlock by allowing campus leaders to confer in advance without creating a quorum and to place final voting authority with elected and executive branch representatives. Tipton said he hoped the governor's appointment would be a person "that has experience in post secondary education that's not affiliated with any of the universities."

Members debated whether the shift would politicize deliberations. Representative Roark asked whether at least one appointment from each chamber could be from the minority party; Tipton responded he had not specified partisan breakdowns and cited a desire for a smaller, legislature‑heavy voting panel so more legislators gain familiarity with the funding model. "If we were to do a breakdown based on the current makeup of the political parties, We'd have to have 4 for the Republican Party and 1 from the Democratic Party," Tipton said. Roark said she would vote no, citing concerns about removing voting privileges from the nine postsecondary institutions. "I still have concerns about removing the votes from the 9 post secondary institutions from the working group," Roark said.

Representative Stocker asked for clarification whether the presidents would retain votes; Tipton confirmed the presidents would be advisory, nonvoting members and explained that change was made after consultations with some presidents who feared friction if only a subset were selected for votes. Tipton also said he had proposed moving the next work group meeting to 2025 (from 2026) and having the group meet every two years instead of every three, to allow the group to meet prior to budget sessions.

A motion to report House Bill 276 with the committee substitute carried; the committee recorded vocal and roll call responses and the bill passed out of committee. Representative Roark recorded a "no" vote and Representative Stalker indicated she would "pass" on the vote; Chair Tipton recorded his yes vote on the record. The committee's action was announced in the meeting as: "House Bill 276 passes with expression of opinion that the same should pass with the committee substitute attached."

The committee record and discussion referenced past and pending legislation and prior meetings of the work group, including a 2024 convening and changes enacted in 2024. Tipton noted that prior session bills had addressed aspects of the funding model, including a bill regarding square footage and a separate bill to restore 1:1 weights. He told members that the performance funding model ultimately is a General Assembly product and that the work group only makes recommendations.

Ending: With the committee's approval, the substitute for House Bill 276 will be carried forward with the committee's recommendation that it pass the House. The transcript records debate on membership, meeting frequency and political balance; no final change beyond the committee motion was shown in committee discussion.