March 8th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
A proposal to combine the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore cleared a key hurdle Tuesday morning, though a Senate committee dialed back language that could have ultimately merged the institutions under a single president. The Budget and Taxation Committee approved an ammended version of a bill that would combine the universities into a single institution with separate campuses, but removed a provision that said the campuses could have a single president if one of the current presidents leaves, which had been a sticking point for some. The revised bill also increases the price tag of the merger, threatening Republican support. Three Republicans on the committee who expressed support for the concept of the original legislation voted against the revised bill because of the increase in required spending. Under the original bill, the state would have to annually spend $10 million on a new University of Maryland Center for Economic and Entrepreneurship Development at College Park, $3 million to help turn university research into profitable technology and $1 million to help businesses locate near the Baltimore campus.
.jpg)
