Senate OKs $3.1 billion in campus construction; measure goes to Abbott
The Texas Senate on Saturday approved legislation authorizing $3.1 billion in bonds for construction and renovation projects at 64 campuses of public universities, health-related institutions and technical colleges. The measure, which was approved Friday by the House, now goes to Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it.
It has been nine years since lawmakers have approved a major round of construction projects at higher education campuses, and university leaders had made the matter one of their top priorities for the legislative session.
House Bill 100, authored by Republican Rep. John Zerwas of Richmond and sponsored in the upper chamber by Republican Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, would provide $75 million to the University of Texas to renovate Welch Hall, a chemistry building, and the same amount to Texas A&M University to build a biocontainment research facility. Texas State University would get $63 million for construction of an engineering and sciences building at the San Marcos campus and $48.6 million for a health professions building in Round Rock.
The measure calls for the schools to pay back the bond debt using tuition revenue, but the Legislature’s longstanding practice is to cover those costs using tax dollars. The budget has set aside $240 million for the first year of debt payments.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/senate-oks-31-billion-in-campus-construction-measu/nmRby/