Campus Construction Fund Cut From Stimulus Bill, but Options Remain

At the insistence of Senate participants, the $789-billion stimulus bill that Congressional negotiators agreed to this week does not include a designated fund for campus construction, as an earlier House version of the measure did, The Chronicle’s Sara Hebel reports. But colleges could get to use some of the money in a “state fiscal-stabilization fund” to repair, modernize, or renovate their facilities. The bill also contains $1.5-billion for the National Institutes of Health to spend on renovating university facilities to help them compete for biomedical research grants.

The fund for state fiscal stabilization, budgeted at nearly $54-billion, includes money that states would be able use to limit budget cuts to colleges and schools and to spend on other priorities. Of that total, close to $40-billion would be set aside for states to funnel to public colleges and school districts, which could use the money in various ways, including to restore budget cuts, prevent layoffs, or modernize facilities. Governors would be given $8.8-billion to allocate to high-priority needs, which could include money for public or private colleges.

The House and Senate could schedule final votes on the bill as early as today.