The Fight to Establish a Campus
By 2003, RRHEC had 1,800 students enrolled in its 15 portable building campus; the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board labeled the institution "space-deficit". MITC's growth was vast due to its location researcher Berri O'Neal concluded in his dissertation.
"Nontraditional students also may find the locations of the MITC's more convenient for attendance, in that they can continue with their current life schedules"- Berri O'Neal in the Austin-American Statesman, 2002.
Round Rock Rep. Mike Krusee saw the severity of the issue and wrote House Bill 2522 to accompany Sen. Steve Ogden's Senate Bill 1297 and presented it on May 18th 2003 to the Texas State Legislature.
At that time, the Texas Legislature were going through budget cuts which targeted public education, higher education and health and human services. Sen. Ogden and Rep. Krusee's request for funding was a huge risk. HB 2522 asked the Texas Legislative to approve the Texas State University System regents request for a tuition revenue bonds, when a university raises their tuition in order to receive funding for improvement and etc for its institution, of $26 million to build a permanent facility for Round Rock. Rep Krusee's bill tagged on to SB 1297 which asked to give the University of North Texas $53 million in bonds, but also requested additional revenue bonds for "a multi-institutional center in Williamson County for Southwest Texas State University."
On July 8th, 2003, Governor Rick Perry approved and signed HB 2522 to finance and construct the RRHEC campus. The funds were to help with the first phase of the RRHEC project. $18.5 million for the main building and $8.5 million for the remaining infrastructure.
Continuing Support
In 2004 and 2005 RRHEC received additional funding from the government, due to the support of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Representative John Carter. Sen. Hutchison acquired $198,820 from the U.S. Department of Education to purchase equipement need for the RRHEC building. Rep. Carter secured $250,000 from the Fiscal Year 2005 Appropriations Omnibus Bill passed in Washington DC.