Lawmakers who want more budget scrutiny for North Dakota's 11 public colleges are pointing to the university system's travel spending, which totals $39.7 million over two years, as evidence of the need for more oversight.

Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, said the university system does not provide the level of budget detail to the Legislature's budget-writing committees as do other state agencies.

He received the data on travel spending only after making requests for it, Skarphol said. Other categories of information, such as utility expenditures on each campus, could benefit from additional scrutiny, he said.

"We need to have more of an idea of the trends that are developing at the various institutions," Skarphol said. "If we see dramatic increases in some type of cost, why is that happening?"

University administrators say the travel expenditures, which include travel by faculty members, administrators and athletics teams, are not unusual for institutions of their size.

The spending includes costs allocated to North Dakota's colleges for using vehicles in the state motor pool. For North Dakota State University, it includes travel associated with NDSU's statewide network of agricultural research stations.

NDSU's travel expenditures for the current two-year budget period, which ends June 30, are pegged at $15.4 million, according to data compiled by the North Dakota university system and the Legislative Council, which is the Legislature's research arm.

The University of North Dakota's travel spending during the same period is expected to be just short of $15 million, while the UND medical school's travel budget is $2.24 million, the data say.

The travel budget for all of the university system's campuses is $39.7 million, including expenditures paid from grants and contracts income.

Robert Gallager, UND's vice president for finance and operations, said all travel expenses at the university go through layers of review.

"It's not out of line in any way," he said. "In some cases, the travel up here is higher, because of where we're located. It costs more to travel from here. North Dakota is not the easiest state to get into and get out of."

Sen. Raymon Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said university system officials have readily supplied budget information that budget writers thought was necessary.

"There is data there. There are also some folks who aren't real happy about the amount of data they have, and would like more," Holmberg said. "But the university system, in my mind, has been out there, giving us the information that they have."

The struggle over budget data is likely to play a role in the Legislature's negotiations on the shape of the North Dakota University System's next two-year budget.

Versions of the spending plan in the North Dakota House and Senate have substantial differences, including separate proposals for raising faculty pay. The Senate version includes money for 5 percent increases, while the House bill favored 4 percent raises to match what was set aside for other state workers.

The House legislation included provisions for a legislative oversight panel, headed by Rep. Ken Svedjan, R-Grand Forks, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to "study approaches to achieving increased higher education productivity." It would have $200,000 available to hire consultants, the House measure says.

The provision is supported by lawmakers who are skeptical of the Board of Higher Education's oversight of the state university system, and have doubts about the Legislature's willingness to grant the university system broad latitude over how to manage its budget.

The university system's push for a specific, 21 percent share of North Dakota's general fund budget has added to the friction.

The board gets only broad outlines of North Dakota colleges' budget proposals when evaluating their own spending recommendations, Skarphol said.

"If you don't look at any more detail … how can you, in all good conscience, say you've evaluated the needs of higher education, and this is what they are," he said. "How can they say they need 21 percent of the budget? They don't even know what they're spending the money on."

Gov. John Hoeven, in his budget recommendations, requested that North Dakota's general fund spending on higher education be raised from $387.1 million to $470.2 million, a 21.5 percent increase. If Hoeven had sought a 21 percent budget share, his recommendation would have equaled $518.3 million, a 34 percent rise.

The sums do not include student tuition payments to colleges, which are now expected to rise 5 percent annually during the next two years.