BLINN BOARD DECLINES PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE BILL 1903
A compromise reached with State Representative John Raney last week in a private meeting with Blinn College officials was voted down by the Blinn Board of Trustees Tuesday night.
By a vote of three to three, the Blinn College Board of Trustees failed to approve proposed amendments to House Bill 1903 that would have given Blinn more time to make financial changes to the Brenham campus budget.
Board Members President Doug Borchardt, and trustees Teddy Boehm and Richard Powell voted to oppose the compromise, while Trustee Carolyn Miller, Leon Toubin and David Sommer voted to approve the measure. Trustee Atwood Kenjura was not present to give a tie-breaking vote.
The vote reversed the push for compromise with Raney on the bill, which would require appropriate state funds to be distributed to each campus based on contact hours. Blinn Board Member Carolyn Miller presented highlights of the meeting to the Board, which included a timeline since the beginning of the bill's introduction, and a short summary of her meeting with Raney last Friday.
The delegation and Raney reached an agreement of a gradual rollout of the bill beginning in 2016 and have full implementation in 2018. Raney also agreed to remove a rider attached to a house appropriations bill which would require only Blinn College to allocate funds based on contacts hours. Miller believed the early implementation would be harmful to the school.
Board members voting against the compromise and the amendments believe it would remove decision-making responsibilities from locally-elected officials, and award further oversight to state legislators in Austin.
Douglas Borchardt, board president, cited Texas Education Code Section 51.352(a), which states that a board “is expected to preserve institutional independence and defend its right to manage its own affairs through its chosen administrators and employees,” and Texas Education Code 51.352(e), which states that the board has the legal power and duty to manage the institution’s funds.
If Bill 1903 passes in the House, it will be up to Senator Lois Kolkhorst to get it killed in the Senate.