Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado stood in front of an infamous hole in the ground at the Auraria Higher Education Center on Monday to sign a bill giving colleges at least $200-million to help pay for a dozen construction projects across the state, the Cherry Creek News reported.
The hole is the site of a planned science building, where construction was briefly put on hold in March after the legislature yanked $37.5-million for the project. Lawmakers subsequently reversed course and passed a measure to raise oil and gas taxes to pay for that building as well as 11 more.
The construction money comes on top of a 9-percent increase that Colorado lawmakers doled out to higher education from the state’s general fund in next year’s budget. Governor Ritter, a Democrat, also is backing a ballot measure to raise state scholarship funds by an estimated $120-million. —Eric Kelderman
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