THE SPECTATOR: BLINN UNDER ATTACK

  

Blinn College in Brenham is under attack.  This is no joke.  Several members of the Texas Legislature are attacking Blinn College with bills that could severely cripple its future.  After 132 years of serving Washington and surrounding counties, the first county owned junior college in Texas is at a critical juncture….and needs your help.  There are currently four bills in the hands of the Texas House Higher Education Committee that could hurt Blinn College.

Bryan State Representative John Raney has filed two bills.  House Bill #1903 would require the Blinn Board to spend money received from tuition and fees and state funding on each of the college’s campuses in proportion to the number of contact hours at that campus.  If passed, this bill could seriously tie the hands of the Blinn Board on spending money on the Brenham campus.  This spring there are 2230 students enrolled on the Brenham campus, and 12,112 on the Bryan campus.  While the Bryan campus suffers from overcrowded classrooms and facilities, the Blinn Board is addressing that issue with the recent purchase of 95 acres of land for a new campus.  Tomorrow night they will begin the process of seeking architectural and engineering services to design a master plan for the new Bryan campus.  I believe the Blinn Board is more qualified to decide how to spend money on the college’s campuses than John Raney and the Texas Legislature.

Raney has also filed House Bill #2621, which would require two new members to the Blinn Board be appointed by the Brazos County Commissioners Court.  All of the current Board members are elected by Washington County voters, where property owners pay a tax to Blinn.  There is no tax paid to Blinn by property owners in Brazos County.  Where does Raney think the money came from in 1970 when Blinn opened a campus in Bryan?  That money sure didn’t come from Brazos County or Bryan students, because there weren’t any before then.

Two more bills, House Bill #2231 filed by Allen Fletcher and #2361 filed by Cecil Bell, would remove Waller County from Blinn’s service district and put it in the hands of Lone Star College in Houston.  This is nothing but a power grab by the largest and richest junior college system in Texas.  They see the growth coming to Waller County, and want it for the Lone Star College system.

Why were all of these bills filed against Blinn College in the Texas House this session?  I believe it’s because our longtime, powerful State Representative Lois Kolkhorst is now a State Senator.  Kolkhorst has filed her own bill in the Senate to preserve Blinn’s current District territory, and to maintain the Blinn administration offices in Washington County.  She will do what she can to block all of the damaging legislation once it reaches the Senate.  But we need help from our freshman State Representative Leighton Schubert to try to stop it in the House.  One of the bills, #1903 concerning proportionate funding, is already set for a public hearing in the House Higher Education Committee at 8 a.m. this Wednesday.  And guess who is a member of that committee?  John Raney, who is proposing it.

Things don’t look very good for Blinn College right now, but the fight isn’t over yet.  I urge you to get involved by contacting Leighton Schubert and Lois Kolkhorst.  Tell them to do everything they can to fight John Raney and Brazos County.  If they want seats on the Blinn Board, let them pass a tax rate in Brazos County.....just like we have in Washington County.  Don’t use the state legislature to bully your way in.  Phone numbers and emails for Schubert and Kolkhorst are available on our website, KWHI.com.  I’ve also included the same for John Raney, in case some of you would like to send him a message.

And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.

State Representative Leighton Schubert
Phone #:  512-463-0600
Email:  leighton.schubert@house.state.tx.us

State Senator Lois Kolkhorst
Phone #:  512-463-0118
Email:  lois.kolkhorst@senate.state.tx.us

State Representative John Raney
Phone #:  512-463-0698
Email:  john.raney@house.state.tx.us

 

 

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8 Comments

  1. Reply to Ladonna Holliday’s question: Same reason why working citizens from other states are paying taxes at the federal level and the money goes to a different state to help pay for health care subsidies that another person enjoys. Same concept. Socialism is on the rise.

  2. What has the Board done with the Washington County taxpayer’s dollar to improve the Brenham campus? What has the Board done with the income generated by Blinn-Bryan to enhance the Brenham campus. ZERO! Except athletics which is meaningless at this level. Travel isn’t cheap.

    Why hasnt the Board utilized these windfalls to enhance the local campus? Shame on the board for its lack of foresight. Should’ve seen this coming as Blinn Bryan became larger and more appealing. Shame on the citizens of Washington Co for not expecting more of their tax dollar. As far as I’m concerned, the composition of the Board is typical of Washington County. New ideas come from new leadership.

  3. Blinn College has been a large and intregal part of the history of our county, and its scholars have impacted many far and wide. But in todays world, the reality is, that education has become a business. As any extremely successful business leader will tell you, challenges and change are inevitable, and on occasion must be addressed with unpleasant and harsh decisions. Our senator if pressed may tell you that the current legislative assault that threatens our beloved college has been in the works for some time and that our board was also informed of these winds of change. But how do we save Blinn? The same way any sharp CEO of business would respond, adapt and change. Let us see Blinn as a fine and much needed technical college, much like a TSTC. This change has already begun and has been met with great success and local corporate support. The Brenham campus can no longer be the academic institution we all know, leave that to Bryan. Begin these changes by eliminating duplicate administrative positions between the Bryan and Brenham campuses, a Major cost savings for Blinn. Our Brenham campus is bloated with unnecessary administrative positions and their support staff. And ask our senator to bring pressure to bear on the Brazos County taxpayer as part of legislative compromise with Raney. If Brazos county wants board representation, then let our current board appoint persons from Brazos county. If Brazos county wants board representation, then they must pay for that with their tax dollar support. Compromise and fairness are good government, something our state legislators could improve. Voter, please rise to the Spectators request, contact your representatives and give them good constructive ideas, let them know you believe that Blinn in Brenham in any form is a good for all.

  4. Once again…..the lunacy of trying to ‘fix’ what is not broken…I would think that Brazos County should be taxed first….and then let them come to the table.

    1. Blinn has been a long time, historical place of higher learning IN Brenham, Texas..it has seen the good in opening ‘satellite’ campuses in other communities to afford people in those areas a low cost alternative to commuting to the Main campus. I want to know WHY THE HELL we are paying for those communities to have the advantages of having a Brenham institution in their community for their use, and Washington County residents are paying for it.

      1. And now we have to drive there to take a majority of the classes-especially those offered at night!!!!

      2. All of you make some good points; I agree with the suggestion that the Brenham campus should shift focus to technical training. Vocational training is sorely needed in today’s economy and the Brenham campus is poised to meet the growing need. The Bryan campus’s close proximity and ties to both TAMU and SHSU make it the reasonable “academic” campus. In addition, the restructure that Blinn endured last year resulted in a bloated sector of administrators, again, begging the question, “Why fix what is not broken?”. Eliminating many of these new positions and their high salaries will help to ease the budgetary deficit.

        However, the point of property taxes must be clarified. The Bryan campus’s budget last year was significantly lower than what was actually brought in, resulting in a surplus of over 10 million dollars. Conversely, Brenham campus’s budget far exceeded what the board knew the campus would bring in, . The main reason I bring up these figures is to point out that the Brenham campus relies on the $1 million generated by Washington county taxes, while the Bryan campus does not need to use any property taxes; it operates solely on what it earns in tuition and fees–and supports the Brenham campus, too. The need for Brazos county representation on the board has nothing to do with Brazos county residents paying taxes (again, the campus does not need them), but everything to do with fair representation when it comes to decisions that the board makes which affect the Bryan campus. The board has known for almost a decade that the Bryan campus continues to experience record growth each semester, yet did nothing to address the problems and need for additional resources to meet the needs of the students. Fairness is key in all matters, and the board now has the opportunity to treat the Bryan campus students fairly and meet the changing needs of the Brenham campus. I sure hope they do.

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