Texas A&M university and system officials have asked the Senate Finance Committee to restore “special item” funding, which is outside the normal budget, to proposed state budgets in the next biennium.
During the January 25 hearing, committee chairwoman Jane Nelson of Flower Mound told system chancellor John Sharp “I keep saying it’s a starting point…(and) I think every person in this room has called me.”
Sharp, a former state senator and former committee member, told Nelson “I used to listen to all these people like me talking about how the sky is falling. But the sky is really going to fall if you pass this bill. But I understand the process and I think it (the process) is a good one. And we are confident that we can go before this committee and explain why these things are necessary”.
The new leader of the A&M Health Science Center, Dr. Carrie Byington, told the committee on her first day she learned Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) called for removing $50 million dollars in special item funding from her budget. That includes $31 million from the College of Medicine. Byington said that would result in the closure of one or more clinical campuses. She also said SB 1 would close the college of pharmacy’s program in College Station. And around 200 teaching and staff positions would be eliminated.
A&M president Michael Young said special item funding would impact the university’s cyclotron program and the sea grant program in Galveston.
The same day as the finance committee in Austin, the topic was raised at the Bryan/College Station chamber of commerce economic outlook conference by A&M assistant vice president for external affairs Chad Wootton and the chief economist at the A&M real estate center, Jim Gaines.
Committee members include Charles Schwertner of Georgetown, whose district includes Brazos County, and Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham.
