Updated at 9:10 p.m. CST March 4

A large disparity between the level of funding requested by Iowa’s three public universities and House budget proposals for next year has raised concerns about support for higher education in the state.

A budget proposal from the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee falls drastically short of previous recommendations by the Board of Regents. The budget calls for a $6.3 million increase to the budgets of Iowa State, Iowa and Northern Iowa. The universities had requested a $40 million increase for the next academic year.

The regents and the universities were not the only ones who have called for full funding from the Legislature. Gov. Tom Vilsack included a $40 million increase in his budget recommendations.

Regent and university officials said the recommendations are preliminary numbers and said they would continue to push for full funding.

“These numbers aren’t real,” said Gary Steinke, deputy executive director for the Board of Regents in charge of public affairs. “This is not a realistic budget. It will bear no resemblance to what’s passed, so we’re not even taking it seriously.”

Steinke said House members underestimated their numbers so as to provide a budget target for the Senate Education Committee as it works to release its own version.

Sen. Michael Connolly, D-Dubuque, said the Senate’s spending targets should be released Wednesday.

“The House proposal is totally inadequate,” said Connolly, co-chairman of the Senate Education Committee. “I expect the numbers to be higher. I think we need to fully fund the regent institutions.”

He said, however, that he did not know what exact numbers would look like.

Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, a member of the House subcommittee, said she was disappointed with the level of funding and hoped the numbers would increase.

“We passed it out of the House subcommittee; all the amendments the Democrats offered were rejected,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “They are saying the money just isn’t there. The Democrats disagree.”

The bill now must be approved by the House Education Committee. Wessel-Kroeschell said she doesn’t expect substantial changes to the bill the subcommittee passed. Republicans have a two-seat majority in the House, which has given them considerable leverage in pushing bills through, she said.

“It’s really hard to say. We’re going to pass this out of the House, a bill that reflects the Republicans’ proposals,” she said. “I have to believe what the Senate is proposing will be better for Iowa than what the House is proposing.”

Spokespersons for the Board of Regents stressed that the proposed budget is only the first of several steps in a long series of discussions in the General Assembly.

“Typically, a lot of proposals and discussion occur in the budget process during the Legislative session. This is just an example of that. It’s the way the democratic budget process works,” said Barb Boose, communications specialist for the regents. “Certainly, the board will continue to work with the Legislature to promote its Legislative Partnership plan and its $40 million increase.”

Acting board president Robert Downer said any increase approved by the Legislature would be beneficial.

“We are pleased that they had seen fit to provide an increase, but do not feel it is adequate,” Downer said. “It’s frankly an improvement from what we’ve seen in the past five years; however, we do feel we have had made a case for the $40 million and are still strongly supportive of that.”

Regent university funding was cut by nearly $162 million during the past four years, causing the schools’ tuition to increase by nearly 60 percent since the 1999-00 school year.

The universities had approved a 4 percent tuition increase for next academic year — the smallest since 1999. But those rates are contingent upon state appropriations. Without the requested $40 million increase in appropriations, the regents could adopt supplemental tuition increases to offset the decreased funding.

Andy Baumert, the state relations officer for Iowa State, said ISU officials plan to push for full funding. Since it is still fairly early in the session, Baumert said, the numbers have not been set in stone, which leaves room for increases. He also said funding levels would be contingent on whether the state passes an 80-cent cigarette tax hike requested by Vilsack.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said a hike in cigarette taxes would take stress off Medicaid funding, which has been biting into education funding. Another sign of hope for university and regent officials is the current composition of the Senate, which has 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats, leaving room for compromise.

“A year ago, when the Republicans had a majority in both houses, they could pass anything they wanted to,” Quirmbach said. “In the Senate, they don’t have that majority, which gives us significantly more leverage.”

However, it could also lead to gridlock, he said. The Legislative session is scheduled to end May 1. If no compromise is reached, he said, he could easily see the session going longer.

Several Republican legislators did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday.