Tier 1 bill contains money for Ike repairs

06/02/2009

Associated Press

AUSTIN -- A Dallas lawmaker won applause in the Texas House for risking his own legislation to help a colleague find $150 million for the hurricane-ravaged University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Now, the proposal heads to Gov. Rick Perry.

The House vote came late Sunday, a day before Monday's adjournment of the Legislature's regular session. The Senate had approved the measure earlier.

Republican Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas was close earlier this week to seeing passage of his bill to help more Texas universities become major research centers. But Democratic Rep. Craig Eiland of Galveston saw both the House and Senate approve a state budget without the $150 million he had been seeking for UTMB.

He announced to the House that he was looking to tack a $150 million bond package onto another bill, and Branch stepped up.

Hurricane Ike ripped through UTMB's island campus on Sept. 13, putting the school's trauma center and more than half the hospital's beds out of commission. The future of the school has been in question since then. Some suggested moving the school off the island in whole or in part.

But the UTMB faculty and students agreed with Galveston leaders that the island city's future was tied to that of the school.

The Tier One bill is HB51.