Lawmakers will try to weigh in on the University of Idaho's proposed purchase of the University of Phoenix.
The Senate State Affairs Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution on the controversial $685 million purchase on Monday morning. The meeting is scheduled to start at 8 am
Details are unclear. The committee agenda posted Friday afternoon lists proposals “relating to the State Board of Education and the University of Idaho.” The draft bill is not a public document until a legislative committee discusses it, and one of its co-sponsors, Sen. C. Scott Grow (R-Eagle), declined Friday to share a copy of the draft.
The role of the National Assembly is also unclear. The state board, which serves as the U of I's governing council, voted May 18 to approve the deal. And U of I officials insisted this was the only state approval they needed.
U of I and Phoenix hope to finalize the deal early this year. It received a boost Tuesday when an Ada County judge dismissed Attorney General Raúl Labrador's lawsuit challenging the state board's closed-door Phoenix debate, but another major obstacle stands in the way. U of I's accrediting body still must approve the partnership. And Four Three Education, a nonprofit affiliated with the U of I, will also have to tap the bond market to finance the purchase.
If Congress were to delay or completely block the purchase, it would add one more variable to an already compressed schedule. The purchase has a voluntary opt-out date of May 31, which could allow U of I or Phoenix to leave.
Details of the resolution remain secret, but “we don’t want to have any negative impact on anyone involved,” Grow said Friday morning. The proposal comes from two lawmakers who have publicly questioned the wisdom of purchasing Phoenix.
Grow confirmed that Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, is co-sponsoring the resolution. Grow and Horman co-chair the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, the Legislature's powerful budget-writing panel.
In June, JFAC held a rare “oversight hearing” in which it questioned U of I President C. Scott Green about the key selling points of the purchase. That is, a promise that Phoenix can provide the U of I with millions of dollars in annual revenue, and a guarantee that the financing plan poses minimal risk to the University of Illinois and no risk to taxpayers.
To date, that hearing is the only legislative hearing on the Phoenix purchase.
But that's set to change on Monday morning.
Check back Monday morning for the hearing. For in-depth coverage of Phoenix issues, click here.