What Influence does Congress Have on Expansion?

Submitted by gomaize11 on

Probably a dumb question, but I keep reading on Dr. Saturday/EDSBS/TSB that the Texas legislature is lobbying for Baylor to get invited to the Pac-10 (if such a deal exists). My question is what power does congress have to get this done? Aren't the university presidents/chancellors elected by the regents, who are in turn elected by citizens?

I must be missing something, because it seems like these Senators are all bark and no bite.

maracle

June 9th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^

This series of posts really sums up the insanity of Texas politics.  The state legislature is threatening to not only prevent a move that would substantially improve the research prowess of Texas, but also punish them financially to protect a favored private school of the politicians.

These guys should be run out of office if their grumblings turn into any tangible action.  I've lived in Texas for 6 years now, and politics here is crazy.  Not just that they're hyper conservative, but that there is not even a hint of competition.  The elected positions are basically just patronage for the parties that control a particular seat.

Seth9

June 9th, 2010 at 4:38 PM ^

While Congress could theoretically choose to inject themselves into the process, they are highly unlikely to do so.

The Texas State Legislature cannot control who the Pac 10 chooses to invite. However, they can withhold funding from Texas and other state institutions if they do not take Baylor with them to the Pac 10. They can also penalize Texas by other means should they not take Baylor with them. As such, the Texas state legislature can effectively prevent Texas from going to the Pac 10, thus killing the Pac 10 effort to take six schools, unless they take Baylor over Colorado. It is an open question as to whether there are enough votes in the Texas state legislature to do this.

psychomatt

June 9th, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^

Congress = Senators + Representatives. For every Senator and Representative that comes from a state that will lose out from expansion (e.g. Kansas, Utah), there are probably an equal number or more from states that will benefit from expansion (e.g. Michigan, TX, CA). I am sure a number of politicians (e.g. Orrin Hatch) will make some noise, but is hard to envision sufficient political support to mount a serious challenge (i.e. cut research funding to specific conferences). Trying to pass legislation to block expansion would make passing the healthcare bill look easy.