DES MOINES — Regent, university and student government officials met with state legislators on Tuesday to convey the need for increased state funding for three cash-strapped public universities.

They addressed a joint House and Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee to gain legislative support for their commitments to cap tuition increases and streamline university operations.

The universities and regents are calling for a four-year funding partnership between the Legislature and the universities, in which the Legislature would commit an extra $40 million a year in state appropriations for four years. With the money, the universities said they would be able cap tuition levels at the rate of inflation.

In exchange for the additional funding, the universities would consolidate business practices and internally reallocate university resources to areas of high priority.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and University of Iowa President David Skorton began their plea for funding by establishing how each administration was proactively seeking ways to streamline the functioning of its university.

“I very strongly believe that any good organization every year should be reallocating at least some part of its budget, moving funds from areas that maybe aren’t quite as important as they used to be to the most important current priority areas,” Geoffroy said.

Geoffroy emphasized that such reallocations are difficult to accomplish — as decreased state funding has caused Iowa State to cut its budget every year for the past five years — but said such steps are necessary.

“That’s how an organization moves forward, how it transforms itself into a more efficient and more specifically focused enterprise,” Geoffroy said. “That’s what this plan will do.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said he supports the $40 million allocation, which he referred to as a fund restoration.

“We’re not talking about new money here; we’re talking about restoring funds,” said Quirmbach, who is a member of the subcommittee. “I frankly believe that students and their families need tuition relief.”

Quirmbach is an associate professor of economics at Iowa State.

The presidents also spoke of improvements to help students be more economically productive citizens of Iowa. Geoffroy discussed new class offerings and said money would go to hiring more faculty in critical areas and underrepresented fields at the university.

“The intent is to give highest priority to education opportunities for our students and to strengthen the impact of our research programs on the state,” Geoffroy said.

He said the provost’s office will be working with college deans to see where needs are the greatest for additional faculty; however, no final decisions have been made.

“We really can’t move ahead yet until we know if the money will be there,” Geoffroy said.

Legislators were unavailable for comment. Acting Board of Regents President Bob Downer, Iowa City, who presented on behalf of the board, said reactions he got from senators were very positive.

“As far as the plan is concerned, there is clear support from the Legislature, and I have every reason to believe there will be an increase in state appropriations to the universities. However, it may not be that full $40 million,” Downer said.

Downer said legislators didn’t raise questions about the recent board resignations and appointments.

“There are a lot of huge financial needs within the state that could make it difficult to get full funding for the $40 million requested, but we are doing our best to articulate our needs for that,” he said. “I feel confident that there will be significant additional support for the regent institutions this year.”

— Tom Barton reported from Ames and Jared Strong reported from Des Moines.