By: Seliger, Eltife S.B. No. 496
(In the Senate - Filed February 11, 2013; February 13, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
April 15, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1; April 15, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 496 By: Seliger
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board to review and approve capital projects and
purchases of real property at public institutions of higher
education in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (b), (d), and (e), Section 61.0572,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The board shall:
(1) determine formulas for space utilization in all
educational and general buildings and facilities at institutions of
higher education;
(2) devise and promulgate methods to assure maximum
daily and year-round use of educational and general buildings and
facilities, including but not limited to maximum scheduling of day
and night classes and maximum summer school enrollment;
(3) consider plans for selective standards of
admission when institutions of higher education approach capacity
enrollment;
(4) require, and assist the public technical
institutes, public senior colleges and universities, medical and
dental units, and other agencies of higher education in developing
long-range campus master plans for campus development; and
(5) [endorse, or delay until the next succeeding
session of the legislature has the opportunity to approve or
disapprove, the proposed purchase of any real property by an
institution of higher education, except a public junior college;
[(6) develop and publish standards, rules, and
regulations to guide the institutions and agencies of higher
education in making application for the approval of new
construction and major repair and rehabilitation of all buildings
and facilities regardless of proposed use; and
[(7)] ascertain that the board's standards and
specifications for new construction, repair, and rehabilitation of
all buildings and facilities are in accordance with Chapter 469,
Government Code [Article 9102, Revised Statutes].
(d) [(1)] The board[, for purposes of state funding,] may
review purchases of [and approve as an addition to an institution's
educational and general buildings and facilities inventory any]
improved real property added to an institution's educational and
general buildings and facilities inventory [acquired by gifts or
lease-purchase only if:
[(A) the institution requests to place the
improved real property on its educational and general buildings and
facilities inventory; and
[(B) the value of the improved real property is
more than $300,000 at the time the institution requests the
property to be added to the educational and general buildings and
facilities inventory.
[(2) This subsection does not apply to gifts, grants,
or lease-purchase arrangements intended for clinical or research
facilities.
[(e) Approval of the board is not required to acquire real
property that is financed by bonds issued under Section 55.17(e)(3)
or (4), 55.1713-55.1718, 55.1721-55.1728, 55.1735(a)(1), 55.174,
55.1742, 55.1743, 55.1744, 55.1751-55.17592, 55.1768, 55.1771, or
55.17721, except that the board shall review all real property to be
financed by bonds issued under those sections] to determine whether
the property meets the standards adopted by the board for cost,
efficiency, and space use, but the purchase of the improved real
property is not contingent on board review. If the property does
not meet those standards, the board shall notify the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the Legislative Budget Board. This subsection does not impair
the board's authority to collect data relating to the improved real
property that is added each year to the educational and general
buildings and facilities inventory of institutions of higher
education.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 61.058,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) This section does not apply to [Except as provided by
Subsection (b) of this section, the board shall approve or
disapprove all new construction and repair and rehabilitation of
all buildings and facilities at institutions of higher education
financed from any source provided that:
[(A) the board's consideration and determination
shall be limited to the purpose for which the new or remodeled
buildings are to be used to assure conformity with approved space
utilization standards and the institution's approved programs and
role and mission if the cost of the project is not more than
$4,000,000, but the board may consider cost factors and the
financial implications of the project to the state if the total cost
is in excess of $4,000,000;
[(B) the requirement of approval for new
construction applies only to projects the total cost of which is in
excess of $4,000,000;
[(C) the requirement of approval for major repair
and rehabilitation of buildings and facilities applies only to a
project the total cost of which is more than $4,000,000;
[(D) the requirement of approval or disapproval
by the board does not apply to any new construction or major repair
and rehabilitation project that is specifically approved by the
legislature;
[(E) the requirement of approval by the board
does not apply to a junior college's construction, repair, or
rehabilitation financed entirely with funds from a source other
than the state, including funds from ad valorem tax receipts of the
college, gifts, grants, and donations to the college, and student
fees; and
[(F) the requirement of approval by the board
does not apply to construction, repair, or rehabilitation of
privately owned buildings and facilities located on land leased
from an institution of higher education if the construction,
repair, or rehabilitation is financed entirely from funds not under
the control of the institution, and provided further that:
[(i) the] buildings and facilities that are
to be used exclusively for auxiliary enterprises[;] and
[(ii) the buildings and facilities] will
not require appropriations from the legislature for operation,
maintenance, or repair [unless approval by the board has been
obtained].
(b) The [This section does not apply to construction,
repair, or rehabilitation financed by bonds issued under Section
55.17(e)(3) or (4), 55.1713-55.1718, 55.1721-55.1728, 55.174,
55.1742, 55.1743, 55.1744, 55.1751-55.17592, 55.1768, 55.1771, or
55.17721, except that the] board may [shall] review all
construction, repair, or rehabilitation of buildings and
facilities at institutions of higher education [to be financed by
bonds issued under those sections] to determine whether the
construction, rehabilitation, or repair meets the standards
adopted by board rule for cost, efficiency, and space use, but the
construction, rehabilitation, or repair is not contingent on board
review. If the construction, rehabilitation, or repair does not
meet those standards, the board shall notify the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the Legislative Budget Board. This subsection does not impair
the board's authority to collect data relating to the construction,
repair, or rehabilitation of buildings and facilities occurring
each year at institutions of higher education.
SECTION 3. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 61.0573; and
(2) Subsection (c), Section 61.058.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
* * * * *