Higher Education Capital Outlay Getting Closer?
Today we learned that House Bill 5858 was passed late last week. It contains numerous higher education capital outlay projects but no dollars are allocated – only $100 for each project as placeholders. The companion Senate bill, SB 1150 is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It too contains higher education projects but only placeholder dollar figures.
Both bills contain a specific cost increase authorization for Oakland University’s Human Health Building project and a specific construction authorization for Henry Ford Community College’s Science Building Improvements project.
Since the Senate will adjourn on Thursday, December 2, SB 1150 must pass the Senate by then or else the bill dies and so does the capital outlay process for this year.
So, if you have friends at the Michigan state Senate, call them now and urge the passage of SB 1150. Once both bills are passed, the politics will get intense and the placeholder dollars will become real numbers. We need a bill on the governor’s desk.