KOLKHORST FILES COMPROMISE BILL IN RESPONSE TO HB 2042
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst has filed a bill in the Texas Senate which would add two members from Brazos County to the Blinn College Board of Trustees.
In an apparent compromise, Kolkhorst’s bill is a duplicate of House Bill 2621 authored by State Representative John Raney of Bryan. Kolkhorst’s bill, Senate Bill 2042, is co-authored by Senator Charles Schwertner, whose district includes Bryan/College Station. The bill would allow each commissioners court of counties in which a branch campus of Blinn has a student enrollment greater than 10,000, to appoint two members to serve on the Blinn Board. Brazos County is the only county that fits those guidelines.
Under the bill, those two appointed board members would have the same voting rights as the elected members of the Blinn Board. However, they would not be allowed to participate in votes related to the imposition of a tax, or the distribution of revenue raised from a tax.
The Schwertner/Kolkhorst bill was read before the Texas Senate Monday, and has been referred to the Senate Higher Education Committee. Raney’s bill in the Texas House is still in that chamber’s Higher Education Committee. Senator Kolkhorst appears to be compromising on the issue of adding Board members from Brazos County, in order to gain support to kill Raney’s other bill, #1903, which deals with the distribution of State funding between Blinn’s campuses. Raney wants State funding to be distributed based on the number of student contact hours on each campus. With over 12,000 students in Bryan, compared to over 2200 in Brenham, there would be quite a difference in funding.
Lois Kolkhorst's office sent this statement shortly before news time on Tuesday:
"This week, Senator Schwertner and I introduced Senate Bill 2042 in the spirit of cooperation between all those interested in the future of Blinn College and how it is governed. This bill calls for two new board members to serve as the voice of Brazos County on non-tax issues. The bill is a work in progress from the Senate, and I hope to help provide a roadmap for Blinn's future and a close examination of the current and future revenues needed for one of the fastest growing community colleges in Texas."