Brnovich appeals university-tuition case Atty. general argues constitutional issues
With less than two weeks until Election Day, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich struck out again against high university-tuition costs.
On Wednesday, Brnovich appealed his lower-court loss in a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents over tuition rates that he claims violate the Arizona Constitution.
Brnovich sued the regents in September 2017, claiming the three state universities had unconstitutionally increased in-state tuition rates. The Arizona Constitution says education should be “as nearly free as possible.”
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Connie Contes dismissed the case in April, saying Brnovich lacked the authority to sue the regents because he didn’t have the permission of the Arizona Legislature or governor. Brnovich appealed the ruling to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Brnovich is in the midst of a re-election campaign, facing Democrat January Contreras in a race where national groups have spent millions. Also on Wednesday, Brnovich, not through his office, sued a clean-energy group over attack ads.
The deadline to file an appeal for the tuition lawsuit was Wednesday.
Students at Arizona State University pay $10,822 for tuition and fees this year, while students at University of Arizona pay $12,447 and Northern Arizona University students pay $11,564.
The average tuition in 2002-03 was about $2,600.
The lawsuit says the regents raised tuition more than 300 percent in the past 15 years without regard to the constitutional mandate of making education as close to free as possible.
And, when the lower court dismissed the lawsuit, it raised “fundamental issues about protecting the rule of law and ensuring public officials follow constitutional and statutory commands,” the appeal states.
The ruling raised questions about how the various parts of government interact with each other, which is front and center in the appeal, said O.H. Skinner, section chief for government accountability, special litigation and antitrust in the Attorney General’s Office.
The position in the ruling seemed to be that an ordinary citizen has the ability to sue an agency they believe is breaking the law, and bear all the costs for that lawsuit, but the AG can’t without permission, Skinner said.
That “turns on its head how most people view the AG,” he said.
The AG’s office wants to clear up the issue of standing so that future legislatures, attorneys general and governors can “understand the proper balance between the entities and have a system in place to comply with the law,” Skinner said.
Aside from the standing issue, Skinner said the office also still believes it will win on the merits of the case — that tuition is too high and violates the Arizona Constitution.
“If anything, (the regents) appear to be measuring the maximum that they think they can charge, and then charging that amount,” Skinner said.
The Board of Regents referred back to its statement after the case was dismissed earlier this year.
“The tuition is not even keeping up with the rate of inflation,” Regent Bill Ridenour said in April. “I think the universities are doing a tremendous job in holding the tuition down.”