By:  Bivins                                           S.B. No. 1059
         99S0738/1                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the approval of certain construction projects by the
 1-2     Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 61.058, Education Code,
 1-5     is amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section,
 1-7     the board shall approve or disapprove all new construction and
 1-8     repair and rehabilitation of all buildings and facilities at
 1-9     institutions of higher education financed from any source provided
1-10     that:
1-11                 (A)  the board's consideration and determination shall
1-12     be limited to the purpose for which the new or remodeled buildings
1-13     are to be used to assure conformity with approved space utilization
1-14     standards and the institution's approved programs and role and
1-15     mission if the cost of the project is not more than $2,000,000
1-16     [$600,000], but the board may consider cost factors and the
1-17     financial implications of the project to the state if the total
1-18     cost is in excess of $2,000,000 [$600,000];
1-19                 (B)  the requirement of approval for new construction
1-20     applies only to projects the total cost of which is in excess of
1-21     $1,000,000 [$300,000];
1-22                 (C)  the requirement of approval for major repair and
1-23     rehabilitation of buildings and facilities applies only to a
1-24     project the total cost of which is more than $2,000,000 [$600,000];
 2-1                 (D)  the requirement of approval or disapproval by the
 2-2     board does not apply to any new construction or major repair and
 2-3     rehabilitation project that is specifically approved by the
 2-4     legislature;
 2-5                 (E)  the requirement of approval by the board does not
 2-6     apply to a junior college's construction, repair, or rehabilitation
 2-7     financed entirely with funds from a source other than the state,
 2-8     including funds from ad valorem tax receipts of the college, gifts,
 2-9     grants, and donations to the college, and student fees; and
2-10                 (F)  the requirement of approval by the board does not
2-11     apply to construction, repair, or rehabilitation of privately owned
2-12     buildings and facilities located on land leased from an institution
2-13     of higher education if the construction, repair, or rehabilitation
2-14     is financed entirely from funds not under the control of the
2-15     institution, and provided further that:
2-16                       (i)  the buildings and facilities are to be used
2-17     exclusively for auxiliary enterprises; and
2-18                       (ii)  the buildings and facilities will not
2-19     require appropriations from the legislature for operation,
2-20     maintenance, or repair unless approval by the board has been
2-21     obtained.
2-22           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-2     passage, and it is so enacted.