A group of 44 governors sent a letter Monday to congressional leaders, decrying a proposal to tie federal higher education dollars to the level of state funding.

The U.S. House of Representatives has included in its reauthorization of the Higher Education Act a proposal that would strip federal funds from state universities that decrease their funding of higher education. Their justification of the provision, which is not in the Senate bill, is that there’s no reason for one government to be putting money in the top of the budget pot while another takes it out the bottom.

The provision “will make it more difficult for governors to make major increases – or invest one-time surpluses – into higher education. Ultimately this will lead to lower state contributions to higher education in the long run and increase the cost of college for students and families,” the governors, including Kansas. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, wrote.

The governors also said the proposal was an inappropriate federal mandate intruding on the sovereign rights of states.