Senators question Regents' authority

By Andy Sher

asher@timesfreepress.com

NASHVILLE — The ongoing controversy over the Tennessee Board of Regents’ appointment of Deputy Gov. John Morgan as its new chancellor has swerved into the legal arena with a question which, depending on its answer, could wreak havoc at the higher education entity.

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfeesboro, said Wednesday that he and a colleague, Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, asked state Attorney General Bob Cooper last week to render a formal opinion on whether the current Regents’ board is legally constituted.

Ketron said he doesn’t think Morgan’s boss, Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen, ever appointed the number of Republicans required under state law.

“If the Board of Regents are in noncompliance, does that mean all action taken by the Board of Regents ... since 2004 is null and void?” asked Ketron, who said at least three of the board’s 12 public members should be Republicans but don’t appear to be.

He said if that is the case, it could leave subject to challenge any number of Regents’ actions over a six-year period that include not only Morgan’s appointment but tuition hikes and other matters.

“It possibly could,” Ketron said. “But if we don’t want to be compliant with the law that we set, then why have the law? Let’s get rid of the law.”

Both Ketron and Tracy recently persuaded Senate Education Committee Chairman Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, to schedule legislative hearings on Sept. 28-29 on the Board of Regents question.

Both lawmakers have questioned the Bredesen-appointed Regents board for having eliminated a requirement that the higher-education system’s chancellor have a Ph.D. That allowed the Regents to appoint Morgan, whose highest academic degree is a bachelor’s degree.

Ketron has also noted that state law requires the governor’s Regents board appointments “shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate” until “adversely acted upon.” The Senate has never acted on the appointments, he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Bredesen complained to reporters that “this has gotten so political. No one had any concern about any of these things for the past 73⁄4 years and suddenly now there’s a couple of Republican state senators who are pushing the issue.”

The governor said “we’ll address any issues they bring up.” But he said it is “important to not lose sight” of higher education reforms enacted earlier this year by state lawmakers aimed at improving graduation rates.

“You know,” Gov. Bredesen said, “it just bothers me a little bit when people inject politics into it at quite this level. If someone has a problem with either the confirmation process or the makeup of the board, then I don’t know why they couldn’t sit down and talk with me. I’d be happy to address the issues without having to have some hearings.”

But, the governor noted, if that happened, “I guess there wouldn’t be any reporters or TV cameras probably in that meeting, which I think probably is what it’s all about.”

Actually, Ketron said, the governor has arranged for both him and Tracy to attend a previously scheduled private meeting today with Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the Republican Senate speaker from Blountville.

“He [Bredesen] is going to try to talk us out of it,” Ketron said. “But I’m not backing off.”

While Bredesen is complaining about politics now, Ketron said, “it was politics when you were not caught and not complying. He has a whole staff ... that is supposed to keep him compliant with all rules and regulations.”

Speaking earlier, Bredesen said he has “tried so hard over the years to just take that kind of stuff [politics] out. And, you know, that [Regents’ appointments] is something which I’ve got someone looking at. I’m going to figure out what went wrong, if anything went wrong in the thing.”

He noted that determining who is a Democrat and who is a Republican can be “hard” in a state where there is no party registration. Examining how someone votes in primaries is “not very good,” Bredesen said, because in some areas such as heavily Democratic Davidson County, Republicans will cross over “because that’s where the game is in terms of who gets elected.”

Bredesen reiterated previous statements that he didn’t recommend the Board of Regents select Morgan as the new chancellor.

“I personally thought he would make a good choice,” Bredesen said.

The Board of Regents operates six state universities, 13 community colleges, and 26 technology centers. It has an estimated 190,000 students and a $2.2 billion annual budget.