NASHVILLE — Republican state lawmakers are proposing legislation to create an inspector who would examine operations within Tennessee’s higher education systems.
The legislation scheduled in the House State Government Subcommittee on Wednesday would create the Office of Higher Education Ombudsman within the office of the state Comptroller of the Treasury. It also would establish the position of Higher Education Inspector General within the ombudsman’s office, which is estimated to cost $504,300, according to a legislative summary of the bill.
The salary and benefits alone for the inspector general’s position is expected to cost $123,000.
The person’s job would be to “examine financial and policy compliance” within the University of Tennessee and state Board of Regents systems and annually report to the chairs of the education committees in the House and Senate.
The ombudsman could function as the inspector general, “unless the comptroller finds that responsibilities would be handled more efficiently by two separate individuals,” according to the summary.
State Republicans, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, have stressed streamlining government to save money. They passed legislation to eliminate nearly a dozen oversight committees and shift their responsibilities to standing committees in the House and Senate.
In this case, sponsors of the ombudsman legislation say such a position is needed because of recent things that have happened within higher education, even though they declined to specify.
