Legislators pepper Green with questions

BOISE — Nothing in the University of Idaho’s budget request is related to the school’s bid to purchase the University of Phoenix, but many of the pointed questions asked of the school’s president during his budget hearing were focused on the topic.

President C. Scott Green stood before the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, ostensibly to answer questions from members about the land grant institution’s $696 million total fiscal year 2025 budget request.

He did answer some budget-related questions, but the topic quickly turned to the university’s pursuit of buying the online university, which could come with an estimated total price tag of $685 million.

Lawmakers asked about a legal opinion released by the Legislature’s counsel that found the move to likely be unconstitutional and outside the statutory authority, the potential legal liability from past litigation against Phoenix, the timing and lack of legislative input, and a recent Idaho Education News article that found the university had paid Green’s former firm millions in consulting fees on the deal.

Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, asked Green to respond to the story, which found through public records that the university had paid at least $7.3 million to an international law firm he used to work for, Hogan Lovells.

Green said he had no financial stake in the company after he left and that the firm was selected based on its expertise in the area. Green recommended the firm, but it was his general counsel, Kent Nelson, who made the final selection.

“They’re the best of the best,” Green said.

Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle, asked for a complete list of consultants the university has hired. Tanner also asked Green to respond to a letter issued Friday from Legislative Services Office Legal Counsel Elizabeth Bowen in which she detailed deep concerns that the State Board of Education — which also serves as the university’s board of trustees — had acted outside of its constitutional and statutory authority when it voted to create a not-for-profit corporation for the purchase.

The plan is for the separate entity to go out for a bond in order to pay for it; state funds would not be used in the purchase.

Green said the university received its own legal advice and disagreed with Bowen’s opinion, and suggested she didn’t have the necessary constitutional expertise to adequately weigh in.

“Asking a staffer to weigh in on stuff like that, would be like me asking my general counsel to write an opinion on constitutional law,” Green said. “He’s a pretty good generalist, I have to say. I’m very glad to have him, but that would be unfair to him. I would strongly recommend you get an outside, second opinion from an independent law firm on that.”

JFAC Co-Chairperson Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, sharply responded to Green.

“I take issue with your criticism of Ms. Bowen,” Horman said. “You hired your own lawyer, and so did we.... I am not going to criticize your lawyers, though I may have a different opinion about that. But I think that was inexcusable.”

Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, objected to Horman’s comments, but co-Chairperson Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, let the representative continue.

Green said he didn’t mean his comments as a criticism, but that he highly recommended a second opinion.

Tanner also asked if the Legislature were to confirm that the State Board had acted outside its authority, would the university consider abandoning the purchase and restructure it with input and granted authority from lawmakers?

“That’s way above my pay grade,” Green responded, saying it was up to the State Board.

Horman, after her comments defending Bowen, also thanked Green for bringing UI to financial stability. But she had concerns about outstanding borrowers defense claims, in which the U.S. Department of Education ordered the repayment of loans to more than 1,200 Phoenix students who attended between 2012 and 2014.

The department announced $37 million in payments in 2023.

Green said that if all the claims that haven’t been adjudicated yet are approved, there’s an estimated $55 million of potential risk. He said he wasn’t concerned about this because the negotiated deal includes $200 million to the not-for-profit entity from the private equity firm that owns the online school.

Ongoing claims, he estimated, could cost up to $7 million a year, but he said he felt profits could easily cover that.

“Having looked at that, we feel we’re in very good shape,” he said.

Green will face questions from lawmakers about the deal again Thursday during a hearing on a resolution that would ask legislative leaders to seek legal action against the state board’s action.

BUDGET REQUESTS

The university is asking for a total of more than $696 million for fiscal year 2025, which includes dedicated, federal and state general funds. Gov. Brad Little’s recommendation totaled more than $699 million.

The governor’s proposed budget would include $363 million in state general fund for UI.

A major request is for around eight full-time positions to increase health care instruction and to create a doctorate in clinical psychology program and/or a nursing and physician assistant program to help address workforce and health care access shortages in the state.

The new employees would be a program director, clinical professors, program coordinators and department chairpersons, according to the budget request document. Jeff Seegmiller, regional dean and director of UI’s WWAMI Medical Educational Program, said existing WWAMI personnel will be used to help quickly launch the new program. WWAMI is a partnership among Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho for medical education, facilitated with the University of Washington.

UI is also seeking to expand its cybersecurity program, asking for around $800,000 to add professors, a full-time director, nine-month faculty and clinical faculty, an information technology position, and a program manager.

This would allow an additional 270 undergraduate students and 15 grad students to enter the program who would graduate over the next five years.

Green said the school’s program is at capacity currently.

In the state Permanent Building Fund budget, the university also requested an additional $2 million for the construction of a new Meat Science and Innovation Center; the Legislature last year appropriated $3 million toward the project.

It’s expected to cost a total of $14.1 million to complete the center in Moscow, which repurposes Animal Pavilion and Meat Lab, which dates back to 1985. The university plans to cover $8.7 million of the total cost.

There’s also a $2 million request for additional funds to continue to improve the McCall Outdoor Science School, known as MOSS.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X, formerly Twitter, @EyeOnBoiseGuido.