Committee OKs River Campus funds of nearly $3.26 million

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The House Budget Committee on Wednesday voted to re-authorize nearly $3.26 million in state funds for the River Campus project.

The money is part of a bill authorizing $255 million in expenditures for capital improvements during the 2006 and 2007 fiscal years. Passage of the measure, which must still go through several more steps in the legislative process, wouldn't guarantee the money would be spent on the dozens of projects listed in the bill during the next two years but simply provides the legal authority to do so.

The River Campus appropriation, like several others in the bill, is a carry-over from the current two-year capital improvements measure, which expires June 30. The budget committee unanimously voted to forward the bill to the House.

Southeast Missouri State University lobbyist Marvin Proffer said the school still needs another $17 million from the state to complete the River Campus, a fine arts school it is building on the historic site of a former Catholic seminary.

Even though full state funding hasn't been secured, construction is already underway using $27.1 million the university has raised from private donors and is receiving from the federal government and the city of Cape Girardeau.

"By moving ahead, we're saving the state money," Proffer said. "The longer we wait, inflation eats us alive and the state's share goes up."

The bill is HB 15.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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