State funding for UH is likely to increase for the next biennium, as the Texas House’s revisions to the state Senate’s appropriations bill left proposed funding increases for UH intact.
The revised bill is back in the Senate, where it will be debated and likely sent to a conference committee by the end of the week, UH Vice President for Governmental Relations Grover Campbell said.
‘A conference committee is about resolving the differences,’ Campbell said. ‘The House and Senate are very close in their dollar amounts, and that’s a very good place to be going into conference committee.’
In the first iteration of the bill the Senate approved a 5.5 percent increase in funding for UH, while the representatives came back with a bill to increase UH’s funding by 5.9 percent during the next two years.
The proposed increase in funding is welcomed news to University officials, who anticipated state-funding cuts after the Legislative Budget Board requested revised budgets for the fiscal year from state universities.
‘In January, we were looking at a 2.5 percent immediate cut, which means about a 5 percent cut overall,’ Campbell said.’ ‘Then the federal stimulus funding came through, and that plugged a lot of holes.’
Lawmakers will need to resolve substantial differences between the original Senate version and the House’s revised appropriations bill from the house. The allocation of federal stimulus funds will need to be resolved in the conference committee.
The Senate used federal money to fill funding gaps created by the slumping economy, freeing state funds for higher education.
Representatives want a portion of federal funds to be given to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which will distribute it to state universities, Campbell said.
Once the legislature finalizes the appropriations bill, it will require approval from state comptroller Susan Combs before it reaches the governor’s desk for final approval.
In both the House and the Senate’s appropriations bill, UH programs reap the benefits of President Obama’s energy initiatives.’
The National Offshore Wind Testing Facility, started in 2007, is looking at $5 million during the next two years to fund a project off the coast of Corpus Christi.
‘Our focuses on research are very much responding to President Obama’s requests,’ Campbell said.
Various articles of the appropriations bill affect UH in addition to the article concerning education.’
Article 9 contains general provisions the University must keep track of.
Article 12 outlines the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, in which the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board receives $350 million in the House version and $200 million in the Senate version.
Article 11 is a wish list of items the state will fund if money becomes available.
‘At times, we have to watch things in Article 2, because that’s our health care,’ Campbell said. ‘There’s nothing easy and straightforward about higher education funding in Texas.’
