Title: Report to the members of the Illinois General Assembly
Description: The Blue Ribbon Committee presents this report to the members of the Illinois General Assembly pursuant to House Resolution 918.  The objective of the resolution and this report is to identify the unnecessary and costly statutory and regulatory mandates placed on public universities and to recommend the elimination or modification of mandates.  These recommendations will not harm university students or staff, negatively impact the academic integrity of the public universities, or conflict with federal regulations.  This report is the cumulation of work conducted by the committee members during the summer of 2010.  The committee is comprised of 13 representatives from the university administrations, board members, faculty and staff, the business community, teacher organizations, and others.

The Committee analyzed more than 100 statutory mandates imposed upon public universities.  Using the guidelines provided by House Resolution 918, each mandate was analyzed to determine its origin, significance, purpose, and impact.  Committee members were very careful in drafting their recommendations to insure that services would not be reduced and integrity would be maintained.  Their analysis is provided in this report and documented in the attached appendices.

Six mandates were identified by the Committee as high-impact and worthy of the General Assembly's immediate attention.  These recommendations include the elimination or modification of three mandates that would result in an estimated $55.1 million in annual savings for public universities.  The other three recommendations, if implemented, will provide long-term indirect savings by reducing administrative work and promoting efficiencies at public universities.  Two additional mandates are included in this report as areas of concern.  The Committee asks the General Assembly to also review these two concerns during the upcoming fiscal year.
Subjects: Higher Education, Reorganization, Appropriations and expenditures, Administration, Public universities and colleges, Government spending policy, Planning, Government aid to higher education
Places: Illinois