The New Jersey Business & Industry Association said today it supports S-2897, which appropriates $34 million from the “Building Our Future Bond Act,” to help support 35 higher education construction projects from the $1.3 billion bond issue previously approved by voters.
The funding will be utilized for a list of capital construction projects that has been certified by Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks. The projects will boost technology, support the health sciences and renovate laboratories and classrooms, benefiting thousands of students.
“The higher education bond issue provides extremely important funding in order to improve the state’s facilities so that our students will have the learning opportunities that are better than or equal to those offered by every state in the nation,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka.
“We must reverse the trend where nearly two-thirds of New Jersey high school graduates attending college leave the state to go to school,” Siekerka said. “New Jersey taxpayers invest billions in the K-12 public education of these students, only to see these youngest millennials leave the state, many of whom never return.”
The legislation is scheduled to be heard today by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
The state received a total of 63 applications from 32 institutions. The applications were reviewed and recommendations were made by the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Schools Development Authority and the state Department of Treasury. The applications were required to show how the projects served students and aligned with the state’s future workforce needs.
The list of approved projects can be accessed by clicking here.
