Fact Checking the Nevadans for Quality Higher Education on Question 1 Claims
The Nevada Faculty Alliance has endorsed Question 1 for reasons outlined in a statement by the NFA State Board. The NFA believes that voters should judge the merits of Question 1 based on facts and not on exaggerated promises or dire predictions. Here we provide fact checks on the arguments provided by the Nevadans for Higher Quality Education and Yes On 1, political action committees that spent a combined $1.36 million to promote the similar Question 1 ballot measure in 2020, which failed by 0.3% margin with no organized opposition, and has reported raising $40,000 in contributions through July 15 for the 2024 ballot question. The top donors to the PACs are the Council for a Better Nevada, the Engelstad Foundation, and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Quoting the YesOn1Nv.org website as accessed on 9/15/2024
NFA fact checks and explanations in red.
What does YES on 1 do if passed?
YES on 1 will be on the Nevada 2024 ballot.
TRUE.
It preserves the election of the Board of Regents and does not change any of their functions or duties. It simply removes the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents from the State Constitution […]
MISLEADING. The constitutional amendment explicitly removes the requirement that regents must be elected from the Nevada Constitution, which allows future legislatures to enact changes in how regents are selected. With passage of Question 1, the duties, functions, and even the existence of a governing board over all public colleges and universities could be changed in the future. Allowing changes is the point of the amendment, not preservation of the status quo. Existing state laws that follow the current constitutional requirements will preserve the Board of Regents and its duties only until the legislature approves changes in a bill that the governor signs.
[…] and implements an independent audit of their $2.1 billion taxpayer budget to increase transparency and accountability.
INACCURATE. Question 1 requires a biennial audit of public colleges and universities, but does not specify that the audit must be “independent” rather than an internal audit or a legislative audit. The scope and form of the audits will be up to legislative action. The total state appropriation of taxpayer funds for NSHE for fiscal year 2024 is $850,048,084. Adding student fees and tuition and miscellaneous revenue brings the total state-supported operating budgets to $1,288,835,710 for FY2024, including the instructional budgets, professional schools, and non-instructional programs.
This measure will save Nevada taxpayer dollars and put students first.
UNKNOWN. The use of taypayer dollars is up to each future legislature. In fiscal year 2023, the total of state funding and student fees per student for Nevada’s colleges and universities ranked 50th out of 50 states. Although there are potential areas for saving taxpayer dollars, putting students first requires a higher investment.
Does YES on 1 keep the election of the Board of Regents?
YES. All of the powers, duties, and elections of the Board of Regents are preserved in NRS 396.020 and 396.040.
REQUIRES CONTEXT. Without the Board of Regents powers, duties, and elections specified in the Constitution if Question 1 passes, future legislatures may change Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS). NRS 396.020 merely specifies the colleges and universities of the Nevada System of Higher Education are “administered under the direction of the Board of Regents”. NRS 396.040 currently specifies that the Board of Regents will have 13 elected members, but the 2023 legislature changed that to 9 members after 2028. The statutory powers of the board are actually specified in NRS 396.110: “The Board of Regents may prescribe rules for: (a) Its own government; and (b) The government of the System.” These state laws could be changed after the passage of Question 1 because the powers and duties of the Board of Regents would no longer be specified in the Constitution.
Will YES on 1 cost any money?
Nope. There is no fiscal note attached to the ballot question. This is because all YES on 1 does is modernize Nevada’s governance structure over higher education to the same standard of every other taxpayer-funded agency.
FALSE. Question 1 requires a biennial audit of NSHE, which will have a fiscal impact. Although the official ballot explanation says the dollar amount cannot not be determined because the scope of audits is to be determined by future legislatures, the fiscal impact for a legislative audit of NSHE proposed in 2021 would have cost $699,000 in travel and overtime costs for the legislative audit division alone, not counting regular staff time for either legislative or NSHE staff.
As indicated in the previous question, Question 1 does not immediately change the governance structure for higher educaition Nevada. It would be ridiculous to think that the governance and oversight of our seven public colleges and universities with over 100,000 students, 15,000 employees and hundreds of education programs could or should be the same as every other state agency, the Division of Motor Vehicles for example. If the governance structure of NSHE is changed in the future, it could cost more money--for example if the system is broken up with separate boards of trustees for different institutions as has been proposed in past legislative bills.
How will YES on 1 strengthen Nevada’s Higher Education System?
In the past few decades, Nevada has benefitted from being one of the fastest-growing states; however, our state has struggled to adapt its governance and infrastructure to best meet the needs of an expanding and diversifying Western state.
Nevada is the only state where a single elected board governs all universities, colleges, and community colleges. Other states long ago modernized their governance of higher education to reflect the differing missions of their colleges and universities and the evolving needs of their states.
MISLEADING. Nevada’s governance of higher education is not nearly as unique as this makes it appear. According to data from the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities and state constitutions, twenty-two other states have governing boards of trustees over higher education institutions enshrined in their constitutions. Three other states (Colorado, Michigan, and Nebraska) have governing boards with elected members. Thirty-four other states have governing boards that oversee both 2-year and 4-year colleges. Smaller states more often have a single governing board; for example, Hawai’i has a single board that governs its three universities and seven community colleges, Montana has a single board that governs the state’s 16 colleges and universities, and North Dakota has a single board over six universities and five community colleges. Over 40 states have system boards that govern multiple colleges or universities. Twenty-four states have institutional or system boards but also statewide coordinating commissions with varying policy-making powers. Whereas Nevada funds and governs community colleges at the state level, in many states they are funded primarily through county or city taxes with local control. There is no single structural form that is considered “modern” or best practice for the governance of state institutions of higher education.
How will YES on 1 help our students and Nevada’s economy?
Nevada has remained tethered to an outdated higher education structure. Our inability to be nimble and meet the needs of the community has led to a loss of confidence in higher education by our community including business, philanthropic, and community leaders. This means less resources for our students, which imperils both the access to higher education and the capacity of our State’s higher education institutions to serve students, from universities to community colleges, to develop and diversify Nevada’s economy and workforce.
EXAGGERATED. Although the legislature has expressed its lack of confidence in NSHE and the Board of Regents by proposing Question 1, our colleges and universities have strong community support.
The inability to attract and keep top-rated leadership has burdened the State with millions in extravagant salaries for chancellors, university presidents, and other executives, who only stay for a few years and leave with millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded severance packages.
TRUE. In the meantime, faculty salaries are well below average of peer institutions and have not kept up with inflation.
Will YES on 1 mean more money for universities, colleges, faculty, and students?
Yes, because it will help us save taxpayer dollars and reduce wasteful spending. NSHE and the Board of Regents are publicly funded by the state’s budget through taxpayer dollars, yet they go unchecked and are out of control. The Board of Regents have squandered millions of taxpayer dollars on their own pet projects – wasting money and putting the burden on the citizens of Nevada and on the backs of our students.
REQUIRES CONTEXT. Only part of NSHE’s budgets are publicly funded through the state. The so-called self-supporting budgets are funded in part or entirely through student or user fees or external sales or grant revenue. Examples include residence halls, food services, parking garages, and intercollegiate athletics. Those funds generally cannot be spent on instructional operations. The Yes On Question 1 proponents have not identified what specific spending or programs should be eliminated to save taxpayer dollars. The use of taxpayer dollars is controlled by the legislature regardless of Question 1.In fiscal year 2023, the total of state funding and student fee & tuition revenue per student for Nevada’s colleges and universities ranked 50th out of 50 states. Although there are potential areas for saving taxpayer dollars, improving higher education without raising fees and tuition on the backs of our students will require a higher investment from the state.
Not to mention their $30 million-dollar budget is larger than any other state’s and is more than they give most of our colleges.
INACCURATE. The general fund operating budget for the System Administration, which includes the Board of Regents, Chancellor and Chancellor’s staff, was $5.58 million in fiscal year 2024 (excluding one-shot program appropriations funneled through the system office). With a total staff of 27, this is not out of line with statewide higher education administrations in other states. The $30 million dollar amount apparently includes the System Computing Services’ budget of $28.6 million in FY2024. Although funded by the legislature through NSHE, SCS operates statewide computer networks for other state agencies and local government entities; its budget is not comparable to the higher education administrations for other states. Among the seven colleges and universities of NSHE, only Western Nevada College and Great Basin College have total budgets less than $30 million.
NOTE: The data cited here are obtained from public sources. Corrections or clarifications from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org
Updated 9/17/2024 to include question on the fiscal impact.
