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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 915
Introduced by Brewer, 43.
Read first time January 04, 2024
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State
2 Colleges; to amend section 85-304, Revised Statutes Cumulative
3 Supplement, 2022; to change and provide powers and duties of the
4 board of trustees; to harmonize provisions; and to repeal the
5 original section.
6 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 85-304, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2022, is amended to read:
3 85-304 (1) The Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges
4 shall have the power:
5 (a) To appoint a president and such other persons as may be required
6 for each state college;
7 (b) To fix their compensation and prescribe their duties;
8 (c) To remove all persons appointed, but the affirmative votes of
9 four members of the board shall be necessary to remove a president or an
10 assistant during the time for which such persons were appointed;
11 (d) Through an extension division, to provide for holding of classes
12 at various localities throughout the state, avoiding unnecessary
13 duplication of courses offered by other educational institutions in such
14 localities;
15 (e) To acquire real and personal property and dispose of the same
16 whenever any of the state colleges will be benefited thereby, but no
17 grounds upon which any buildings of any of the state colleges are located
18 shall be disposed of without the consent of the Legislature;
19 (f) To pay expenses for recruitment of academic, administrative,
20 professional, and managerial personnel; and
21 (g) To provide benefits for all present and future employees,
22 including group life insurance, group hospital-medical insurance, and
23 group long-term disability income insurance; and .
24 (h) To engage in any activity or authority granted to the board of
25 trustees pursuant to section 2 of this act.
26 (2) The board shall have the duty:
27 (a) To institute a continuing program of preventive maintenance and
28 a program of deferred maintenance consistent with the provisions of the
29 Deferred Building Renewal Act; and
30 (b) To consult with the Nebraska Arts Council and acquire works of
31 art for the original construction of any public building under its
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1 supervision consistent with sections 82-317 to 82-329 and 85-304 to
2 85-304.03.
3 Sec. 2. (1) The Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges
4 may enter into long-term leases, lease-purchase agreements, or financing
5 contracts with any person, firm, governmental entity, or corporation to
6 finance or refinance student housing or student activity facilities for
7 use by state colleges. The board of trustees may also convey, lease, or
8 lease back all or any part of its student housing or student activity
9 facilities and the land on which any such facility is situated to such
10 person, firm, governmental entity, or corporation as the board of
11 trustees may contract with to facilitate the long-term payment of the
12 cost of such facilities. Any such long-term lease, lease-purchase
13 agreement, or financing contract may include payments over multiple years
14 from any source legally available to the board of trustees exclusive of
15 state tax funds, may include student housing or student activity
16 facilities on property owned by the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska
17 State Colleges or on property owned by any other person, firm,
18 governmental entity, or corporation, and shall include such other terms
19 and provisions as may be determined necessary or appropriate by, or at
20 the direction of, the board of trustees. Any such financing for a new
21 student housing project shall be subject to the receipt of project
22 approval from the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education as
23 required by subsection (10) of section 85-1414, as long as state tax
24 funds are not being used for the project.
25 (2) The authority provided in this section shall be deemed to
26 provide a complete method for the measures and actions authorized in this
27 section and shall be regarded as supplemental and additional to powers
28 conferred by other laws. The board of trustees, employing the authority
29 set forth in this section, shall not be required to comply with the
30 requirements of any other law applicable to entering into long-term
31 contracts, pledging revenue, the financing and approval of facilities
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1 under the control of the board or trustees, and other related matters.
2 Sec. 3. Original section 85-304, Revised Statutes Cumulative
3 Supplement, 2022, is repealed.
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Statutes affected: Introduced: 85-304