01:00 AM EDT on Friday, June 18, 2004

Here we go again. The General Assembly is trying to rush some radical changes in Rhode Island government past the public this week as attachments in the state budget.

Yesterday, we warned readers of Chief Justice Frank Williams's judicial power grab, which was arranged behind the scenes with legislative leaders, avoiding a thorough and careful public vetting of a change affecting all three branches of government. Today, we warn of the General Assembly's efforts to control public higher education and further politicize its operations.

Some last-minute changes sprung on the public with little debate would put financial control of the public colleges directly in the hands of the General Assembly. A member of the Board of Governors for Higher Education since 1997, Michael Ryan, called the proposal "the most troubling document I've seen." Jack Warner, commissioner of higher education, said the change would undermine a "bedrock principle of education" and erode protections against its being "politicized."

The House Finance Committee last Friday recommended removing the board's power to "allocate appropriations," meaning the General Assembly would micromanage what is spent at state colleges. The proposal also would remove the board's power to disburse and manage such money as federal grants.

Obviously, the General Assembly is desperately trying in the waning days of the session to hoard some of the power it is destined to lose this November, when voters are expected to overwhelmingly pass the separation-of-powers constitutional reform. That reform would require executive functions to be run by the executive branch, taking away some of the inordinate power of the assembly.

The assembly is, for example, expected to lose its two appointments on the Board of Governors of Higher Education. Apparently, legislative leaders would rather secure power now -- by taking away the budget authority of the board -- than allow the government to be run as the citizens wish.

This process reflects very poorly on House Speaker William Murphy, Senate President Joseph Montalbano, and their leadership teams. Please contact your legislators today and complain. Mr. Murphy can be reached at (401) 222-2466.