Resolved, that a special commission is hereby established to investigate and study whether a more robust Massachusetts public higher education governance and operations oversight structure could be beneficial, cost-effective, and efficient for the commonwealth and its students. The commission shall seek a balance between centralized oversight that can result in efficiencies and the local autonomy that is necessary to ensure that public institutions in each region are able to focus on the specific needs of the local community. The commission shall consist of: the speaker of the house of representatives, or a designee thereof; the president of the senate, or a designee thereof; the minority leader of the house of representative, or a designee thereof; the minority leader of the senate, or a designee thereof; the house chair of the joint committee on higher education, or a designee thereof; the senate chair of the joint committee on higher education, or a designee thereof; the secretary of education, or a designee thereof; the commissioner of higher education, or a designee thereof; and 5 persons appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative from the University of Massachusetts; 1 of whom shall be a representative from the commonwealth's universities; 1 of whom shall be a representative from the commonwealth's community colleges; 1 of whom shall be a representative from the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts; and 1 of whom shall be a representative from Families United in Educational Leadership.

The commission shall make an investigation to determine the need for increased oversight structure for the commonwealth’s public higher education system, including, but not limited to: 1) an investigation of the causes and effects of rising tuition and fees for public higher education institutions; 2) an assessment of debt incurred by students attending public higher education institutions and this debt compares to that incurred by students attending private higher education institutions; 3) a review of state support for public higher education institutions and how this support is leveraged to control fee increases; and 4) a determination of whether increased financial oversight would address the issue of rising costs in commonwealth’s public higher education system.

All appointments shall be made not later than 30 days after the effective date of this resolve.  The chairpersons shall meet with the commission not later than 60 days after the effective date of this resolve. Members shall not receive compensation for their services but may receive reimbursement for the reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out their responsibilities as members of the commission.

Not later than December 31, 2016 the commission shall report to the general court the result of its investigation and study and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect by filing the same with the clerks of the senate house of representatives who shall forward the same to the joint committee on higher education and the senate and house committees on ways and means.