OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Mark McBride on Tuesday passed legislation in the House that would apportion funding to address deferred maintenance needs at state colleges and universities.

House Bill 4013 would apportion $140 million annually for five years beginning in fiscal year 2025, to replace aging infrastructure within state higher education institutions.

"I've traveled to almost every school in the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education and found needs stretching from replacement of boilers and AC units, to roofs, to schools that have good bones but maybe they need to remodel some of their interiors so students have a better learning environment," McBride said. 

He stressed the funds are not for new buildings or facilities, but to take care of the maintenance on what currently exists within the state's higher education system. He likened the five-year plan to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation's successful eight-year plan for maintaining state highways and bridges.

House Bill 4013 would create the Higher Education Capital Financing Fund and also establish the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education Capital Needs Evaluation Committee. The committee would oversee how money is spent and evaluate and report on infrastructure and construction needs, project priorities, cost estimates, completion timelines, and the status of funded projects.

Appointees to the committee would come from the governor, House and Senate leadership as well as from the Boards of Regents for the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, the Regional University System of Oklahoma, and from two-year non-system-affiliated public colleges.

McBride said he's told the regents that going forward when they accept money for new buildings or projects, they need to set aside at least 5% for future maintenance needs just as a good management practice. But he also pointed to past Legislatures that cut funding to higher education, leaving the system lagging in the area of addressing maintenance needs. The system is currently still below funding levels in 2010, he said.