The Challenge
In 2020 and 2021, Representative Harold Love discovered that the state of Tennessee had failed to provide Tennessee State University (TSU), an Historically Black College and University (HBCU), a required one-to-one match under the 1890 Land Grant Act.
In 2020 and 2021, Representative Love secured over $500 million in owed funding for Tennessee State University.
How Can You Do This In Your State?
Do you have an HBCU in your state? If it was established through the 1890 Land Grant, the state may also owe it funding.
Representative Love figured out how to do this on his own. You do not have to. Below you’ll find a primer on how to recover owed HBCU funds, taking inspiration from the process Representative Love used.
Drafting HBCU Funding Legislation: A Primer
This section breaks down the process to:
Identify if your state has an HBCU funding gap and is owed money
Build stakeholder buy-in
Draft legislation
Pass legislation
At each step, we offer the questions we would advise you to consider in your own work to pass legislation.
At the end of this step-by-step breakdown, we have shared a full case study of Representative Love’s work. It includes specific legislation names and constituent outreach.
The 1890 Land Grant Act & HBCU Funding
The 1890 Land Grant Act, also known as the Second Morrill Act of 1890, provides federal grants through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for agricultural research, education, and extension to nineteen Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) land grant colleges and universities (“1890 institutions”).
HBCUs did not always have access to the land grant program. Initially, land grant funds were only provided to the fifty-seven 1862 institutions deemed eligible under the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, predominately white land grant colleges and universities (“1862 institutions”).
The USDA distributes capacity grants, also known as formula funds, among eligible 1862 and 1890 institutions based on statutory formulas. These grants generally require one-to-one non-federal matching funds provided by the state or a non-federal source. In 2020, [LINK] according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), 1862 institutions received over 80 percent ($574 million) of federal capacity funds, and 1890 land grant institutions received 18 percent ($124 million).
However, the state’s failure to provide a one-to-one match is a problem. It also exacerbates disparate funding at the federal level for 1890 institutions.
Currently, the law permits USDA to give waivers to states, allowing them to match less than half of the federal funds for 1890 institutions. These waivers were initially intended to ensure that 1890 institutions would still receive federal funds even if the states could not provide the full match. However, it has incentivized states to underfund 1890 institutions while fully funding 1862 institutions.
THE PROCESS
Case Study: Representative Harold Love & Tennessee State University
While we recognize that every state legislature is unique, we hope sharing the innovative and effective work of Representative Love as a case study will be helpful for your further inspiration—and action.
Between 2020 and 2021, Representative Love secured over $500 million of funds owed to Tennessee State University. He led forward this legislative effort after his research showed that the State of Tennessee had failed to provide TSU with its owed one-to-one match under the 1890 Land Grant Act.
While federal law permits USDA waivers, many 1890 institutions, including TSU, had not yet received funds lawfully owed them under the 1890 Land Grant Act.
Before Representative Love’s legislation, the impacts of this funding disparity at TSU included:
- limiting TSU’s extension and research programs
- limiting its ability to recruit talented students
- restricting its scholarships
- hampering its technological advances
- causing a deferred maintenance backlog
- depleting its endowments.
Legislation Step One: Establish a Fact-Finding Study Committee
On June 20, 2020, the Tennessee General Assembly formed the Land Grant Institution Funding History Study Committee. This six-member bipartisan committee was tasked with studying inequities of prior years’ federal and state funding for land-grant higher education institutions, including TSU.
This committee was essential for building TSU’s legislative and political support to obtain its state-match funding.
Hearings:
- On November 10, 2020, they held a hearing entitled “Historical Overview of Land-Grant Institutions,” with the Tennessee Higher Education Committee, Director of HBCU Success, Dr. Brittany Mosby.
- On December 8, 2020, they held a hearing entitled “Overview of Historical Funding” with Peter Muller, House Budget Analysis Director.
- On January 11, 2021, they had presentations from TSU leadership, including University President Dr. Glenda Glover, Ph.D.
- On April 5, 2021, they held a hearing with the Office of the Legislative Budget Analysis
Budget Analysis
Representative Love used the Office of Legislative Budget Analysis to find funding disparities between 1890 and 1862 Institutions
He found that between 1957 and 2007, TSU did not receive the required match from the state of Tennessee. He also discovered that in many instances, it still needed to receive the total amount of federal funding passed through the state.
Policy Work
On June 30, 2021, he held a TSU planning recommendations meeting to discuss applicable laws on land grant colleges.
Legislation Step Two: Engage Stakeholder Support
Political Stakeholders
As you engage in this process, you must secure the support of your relevant political allies and caucuses.
Bipartisan Allies
Early in the process, engage with the party leaders in both parties and begin to have conversations with the state Governor’s office
University Leadership Stakeholders
You should engage the leadership from both the 1862 and 1890 institutions and gain their voice and support for addressing funding disparity
Coalitions and Like-minded Stakeholders
Leverage help from civic groups like the Thurgood Marshall Foundation and the Association for Public Land-Grant Universities. These types of organizations may have political resources that could help in this process.
Grassroots support is essential in this process. Try working with the alumni association of the 1890 institution and any student-led groups
Legislation Step Three: Execute Legislative Strategy
While completing the other steps, you should execute a legislative strategy. The legislative strategy should include the passage of a law that requires the reporting of state and federal funding amounts.
A good focus for your legislative efforts is to determine the cause of disparate funding and assess the consequence of this disparity. Then, you can work on legislation to correct this disparity by appropriating funds that were unlawfully withheld.
Laws Enacted:
On February 5, 2019, Representative Love introduced HB823, which required the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to submit a report on the federal appropriations and matching funds allocated under the 1890 Land Grant Act. It became law on May 2, 2019
On June 20, 2020, the Study Committee on Land-grant Institutions was created by appropriations bill HB2922.
On February 1, 2022, Representative Love introduced HB2293. It required TSU to submit annual reports to the Governor related to
- the progress made in addressing the improvements to TSU’s facilities and infrastructure, and
- how the improvements address the needs identified in the Tennessee higher education commission’s evaluation of TSU facilities and infrastructure needs