Only a few members of the House opposed House Bill 100 (HB 100), carried by Rep. John Zerwas (R-Simonton), mainly because they didn’t want the state to take on debt for this purpose, reported The Texas Tribune. However, leaders in higher education and business groups believe there is an urgent need for construction funding in order to expand classroom space and to maintain an educated and balanced workforce. University officials also say the bonds are important in helping smaller regional campuses that don’t have much donor support.

HB 100 would help finance 64 projects across the state using tuition revenue bonds, through which tuition and fees would float the debt. The state hasn’t passed any similar bills in a decade.

The Senate Higher Education Committee also approved Senate Bill 150, a related bill that would authorize more than $3 billion worth of bonds.

Two years ago, similar bills were unsuccessful in both the House and Senate, forcing several schools to delay key projects. For instance, Texas State University had to stop progress on a nursing facility on its Round Rock campus and an engineering building at the San Marcos campus, which kept both departments from increasing enrollment.

Despite the majority vote, some groups still do not support the bond package. For example, the advocacy group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility is against it, asking that money for campus construction projects come from legislative appropriations rather than bonds.

The tentatively approved legislation would allow the University of Texas System to issue $927.6 million worth of bonds, reported the Texas Tribune. The Texas A&M University System would be able to issue $805.8 million. The systems governing the University of Houston, Texas State University, the University of North Texas and Texas Tech University would be able to issue at least $250 million each.

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In an attempt to keep pace with rising enrollments — and to replace or upgrade aging or inadequate facilities — a number of Texas universities have developed plans for costly large-scale building projects and improvements. University leaders claim that, if funded, these projects will help attract new businesses and create new high-paying jobs, according to The Dallas Morning News.

A number of these funding requests are concentrated around the Dallas area. The University of Texas at Dallas will request $99 million for a new engineering building, plus another $95 million for a new science center, while the University of Texas at Arlington plans to request $190 million for the construction of the Science and Engineering Innovation Research Building, as well as an additional $99 million to establish a new College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions Academic and Research Building. The University of North Texas will seek a combined $152.8 million for construction of an interdisciplinary research building and a variety of renovations to the College of Law, both located on the university’s Fort Worth campus.

The University of North Texas at Denton is also hoping to secure more than $82 million for a new College of Visual Arts and Design facility, and more than $88 million for a new Science and Technology Research Building. Meanwhile the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of North Texas at Dallas will seek $109.8 million and $70 million respectively. The former hopes to construct a new vivarium and complete research infrastructure improvements, while the latter hopes to add a new Student Learning and Success Center.

These high profile funding requests are not just limited to the Dallas area, however, and a number of other institutions will also petition for funding. Texas A&M University in College Station is requesting more than $170 million for construction of an advanced bio-containment lab, a new classroom facility and various improvements. Both the Round Rock and San Marcos campuses of Texas State University will also seek funding for new construction projects. All said, Texas universities will request more than $3 billion for nearly 90 projects, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Many of these universities will seek to complete work with the support of tuition revenue bonds, which were last approved by the state legislature in 2006. That year state lawmakers gave the green light to more than 60 university construction and improvement projects totaling more than $1.8 billion. In 2013 a similar effort went unfunded due to disagreements between the Texas House and Senate. Competition for funding will be similarly difficult in the coming session as the number of requests has increased.

“There will be money there, but there are a lot of competing interests — and worthwhile ones,” Senator and Chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) told The Dallas Morning News on Jan. 2.

The state legislature’s 84th session will commence Jan. 13 and the regular session will end June 1.

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