1-1     By:  Bivins                                           S.B. No. 1059
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 1999; March 10, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 16, 1999,
 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0;
 1-5     April 16, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the approval of certain construction projects by the
 1-9     Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 61.058, Education Code,
1-12     is amended to read as follows:
1-13           (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section,
1-14     the board shall approve or disapprove all new construction and
1-15     repair and rehabilitation of all buildings and facilities at
1-16     institutions of higher education financed from any source provided
1-17     that:
1-18                 (A)  the board's consideration and determination shall
1-19     be limited to the purpose for which the new or remodeled buildings
1-20     are to be used to assure conformity with approved space utilization
1-21     standards and the institution's approved programs and role and
1-22     mission if the cost of the project is not more than $2 million
1-23     [$600,000], but the board may consider cost factors and the
1-24     financial implications of the project to the state if the total
1-25     cost is in excess of $2 million [$600,000];
1-26                 (B)  the requirement of approval for new construction
1-27     applies only to projects the total cost of which is in excess of $1
1-28     million [$300,000];
1-29                 (C)  the requirement of approval for major repair and
1-30     rehabilitation of buildings and facilities applies only to a
1-31     project the total cost of which is more than $2 million [$600,000];
1-32                 (D)  the requirement of approval or disapproval by the
1-33     board does not apply to any new construction or major repair and
1-34     rehabilitation project that is specifically approved by the
1-35     legislature;
1-36                 (E)  the requirement of approval by the board does not
1-37     apply to a junior college's construction, repair, or rehabilitation
1-38     financed entirely with funds from a source other than the state,
1-39     including funds from ad valorem tax receipts of the college, gifts,
1-40     grants, and donations to the college, and student fees; and
1-41                 (F)  the requirement of approval by the board does not
1-42     apply to construction, repair, or rehabilitation of privately owned
1-43     buildings and facilities located on land leased from an institution
1-44     of higher education if the construction, repair, or rehabilitation
1-45     is financed entirely from funds not under the control of the
1-46     institution, and provided further that:
1-47                       (i)  the buildings and facilities are to be used
1-48     exclusively for auxiliary enterprises; and
1-49                       (ii)  the buildings and facilities will not
1-50     require appropriations from the legislature for operation,
1-51     maintenance, or repair unless approval by the board has been
1-52     obtained.
1-53           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-58     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-59     passage, and it is so enacted.
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