Nixon celebrates funds for Baldwin Hall renovations, discusses veto session

The days of extremely cold or hot room temperatures inside Truman State University’s Baldwin Hall will not last forever as the building readies to receive some much needed repairs thanks to the recent passage of a bond issuance bill in the state capitol.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon visited Truman State University Thursday afternoon to celebrate the more than $9 million that will go towards repairs and renovations at Baldwin Hall thanks to the “Building Affordability” initiative.

Last December, Nixon visited Truman State to announce his effort to work with the Missouri Legislature to complete a bond issuance to help fund renovation projects and upgrades at higher education institutions throughout the state.

During his visit, Truman State President Dr. Troy Paino gave Nixon a tour of Baldwin Hall to showcase the building’s most urgent concerns.

“Last year, I came here and proposed a significant, forward-looking package of investments in college campuses around the state of Missouri, including right here at Truman State, and this year the General Assembly answered that call,” Nixon said.

Near the end of the legislative session in May, lawmakers passed House Bill 19, which would provide about $200 million in funding for renovation projects at public buildings and higher learning institutions around the state.

“We call it ‘Building Affordability,’ because in addition to providing students with the state-of-the-art facilities they need to prepare for the jobs of the future, this effort will also help our colleges and universities hold down tuition,” Nixon said.  

“Every additional dollar the state spends on these projects is a dollar that colleges and universities don’t have to raise through tuition and fees.”

Truman State will receive about $9.2 million of that $200 million for repairs and renovation projects at the university’s Baldwin Hall, which was built in two phases in 1937 and 1958, houses five academic departments, 23 classrooms and serves more than 2,000 students daily.

The funding will be used for “repair and renovations including accessibility improvements and energy efficient lighting, and HVAC system replacement.” Truman State has also already begun the architectural design work for the project and Paino previously said construction work could begin in May 2016. The university is also contributing about $5 million towards the Baldwin Hall renovation project.

“I’ve always felt in working with Gov. Nixon that there’s a dialogue, that he’s always there to listen and to try and address the needs for higher education and for Truman State University,” Paino said.

Nixon said he would like to see the state continue to be able to invest in higher education now that the “Building Affordability” campaign has gotten done.

“This is where we started the ‘Building Affordability’ tour. We sat in Baldwin Hall, sweating, then he (Paino) showed me around some really scary offices and students were really fired up. We sweated our way to saying we were going to get this done,” Nixon said.  

“Well guess what? Here we are today getting this done and the reason we’re doing it is we feel very, very deeply about those three things I talked about before: making sure that you have an educational opportunity so that when you’re done you can compete with anybody in the world; No. 2, making sure that we tie - directly - education to the economy; and No. 3, and making sure that that investment is as cost-effective as possible for you and your families,” he said.

Gov. Nixon also addressed the upcoming veto session of the Missouri Legislature, which gives lawmakers the opportunity to possibly override any of the governor’s vetoes.

Nixon vetoed several measures including HB 116, or “right to work,” which prohibits an employer from requiring a person to become a member of a labor organization as a condition or continuation of employment and SB 224, which requires a student to be a United States citizen or permanent resident in order to be eligible to receive reimbursements from the A+ Schools Program.

“I vetoed them because I think that they shouldn’t become law and there’s a couple of them that I think stand out,” Nixon said.

“I think that saying that students that come from other countries, even if they qualify for A+ scholarships going through high school, that they shouldn’t get those or they should lose them, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” Nixon said. “I also don’t think that taking away worker’s rights is smart.”

Asked if he’ll have the support for his vetoes to be upheld, Nixon said he’ll have to wait and see.  

“I’d hope the Legislature would come to town, read carefully my veto messages and heed that,” Nixon said. “I want to sign all the bills, but when things are what I think is the wrong policy for the state, I’m certainly willing to stand up and say so.”