(This legislative update has been assembled by the UH System Office of Governmental Relations and edited by the UH Division of University Advancement as a service to the UH System community.)
With the Senate’s successful passage of a tax bill during the early hours this morning, Gov. Perry has just expanded the issues that the Legislature may consider during this special session to include TRBs and judicial pay raises, two issues that failed during the waning hours of the regular session.
The full House will consider its version of TRBs tomorrow, Tuesday. Sen. Steve Ogden introduced SB 80 this morning and has it scheduled for a hearing this coming Wednesday morning. The new Senate legislation has the following amounts for UH System institutions:
$40 million for UH to renovate the S&R 1, Fleming and old science buildings.
$20 million for UH-Downtown for a Classroom and Learning Resource Center building.
$10 million for UH-Clear Lake for educational and related facilities.
$20 million for UH-Victoria for educational and related facilities in Sugarland
The Senate legislation also adds a new section which would limit future debt service for these projects to 60 percent, unless “the Legislature determines that the limitation would impose an unreasonable hardship for an affected university system or institution of higher education”.
We will keep you advised on developments as this special session proceeds towards its conclusion next week.
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