BILL ADDING TO THE BLINN BOARD PASSES HOUSE

  

A bill that would give Brazos County two new members on the Blinn College Board of Trustees was passed by the Texas House Friday.

House Bill 2621, which was authored by Bryan State Representative John Raney, passed the House by a 138 to 4 vote Friday.  The bill would add two members to the Blinn Board, who would be appointed by the Brazos County Commissioners.  It was co-sponsored by Brenham’s State Representative Leighton Schubert of Caldwell, and by Representative Kyle Kacal of rural Brazos County.  An identical companion bill is still in the Senate’s Higher Education Committee, co-authored by Brenham’s State Senator Lois Kolkhorst and Senator Charles Schwertner, whose district includes Bryan.

If the legislature passes this legislation, the two members from Brazos County would have the same decision making authority as the Blinn Board members elected by Washington county voters.  However, they could not vote on property tax matters.

House Bill 2621 is one of 4 bills in this legislative session that deal directly with Blinn College.  House Bill 1903 was voted down in the House last Thursday.  It would have required Blinn College to allocate funds to each campus based on student contact hours.  Two other House Bills, 2231 and 2361 would remove Waller County from Blinn’s service area and assign it to Lone Star Community College.  Both of those bills are pending in the Higher Education Committee in the House.