President Eighmy provides update as 88th Legislative Session begins

JANUARY 12, 2023 — Editor’s note: The following message was sent via email today from President Taylor Eighmy to faculty and staff:

The 88th Legislative Session began this week, and I thought I would take a moment to briefly update you about our university’s plans and collaborations.

This session, chancellors from the six major public university systems have asked Senate and House leadership to fund four initiatives of common interest to public higher education, all related to affordability. The state’s budget surplus means these initiatives have a reasonable chance for support by both the Senate and House. The proposal includes four areas: general academic formula funding, comprehensive regional university funding, Hazlewood legacy program funding and higher education group insurance funding.

The total request to support these four initiatives across all Texas public universities for the two years of this biennium is estimated at nearly $1 billion. As part of this proposal, the six systems have agreed total resident undergraduate academic costs, which includes tuition and certain academic fees, will remain at currently approved levels for the next two academic years.

If the proposed investments are funded, the total positive impact to UTSA will be significant. We will be working closely with UT System on this request and will closely follow developments as the legislative session progresses.  

In addition, there are a number of UTSA-specific programs and activities that we are placing before the legislature in the coming session. These can be found on our legislative priorities website. The site also provides links to our legislative appropriations request and presentation to the Legislative Budget Board from September 2022.  

Last week, I had the opportunity to brief our Bexar County legislative delegation. The meeting, hosted by Alamo Colleges District and involving Texas A&M San Antonio, UT Health San Antonio and UTSA, was an excellent opportunity to brief our representatives and their staff about our collective interests, needs and focus. My presentation to that group is available here.

I expect to formally present UTSA’s legislative appropriations request to the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees in the next two to three months. I will be working closely with UT System Governmental Relations, Vice President for University Relations Teresa Niño, and our Government Relations AVPs Jason Hassay and Albert Carrisalez as we meet with elected officials and their staff throughout the session.

Already, more than 1,700 bills have been submitted and more than 5,000 additional bills are expected before the March 10 deadline. We will coordinate closely with UT System around bill review with our subject matter experts. Simultaneously, Senior Vice President Veronica Salazar’s team will conduct fiscal impact reviews of relevant bills as they evolve during the session.

Finally, we will continue to work closely with our colleagues at UT System and our sister institutions within UT System and around the state to show the importance and value of public higher education for San Antonio and for Texas. I will continue to share updates as the session progresses.

Thank you all for your efforts, advocacy and passion for UTSA.