JEFFERSON CITY — Last summer, I had the honor to chair the Senate Interim Committee on Capital Improvement Assessment and Planning. I found it informative and eye-opening in terms of the amount of necessary improvements in state-owned properties. Of the thousands of buildings Missouri maintains, the interim committee identified the state’s greatest need is the Fulton State Hospital.

The Fulton State Hospital opened its doors in 1851, and is currently the oldest mental health facility west of the Mississippi. The whole facility houses up to 363 patients in one of four areas, including maximum security, intermediate security, a developmentally disabled area, and the sexual offender rehabilitation and treatment program. Also, many short-stay clients on the campus are awaiting sentencing or trial.

Of the original 38 buildings on the hospital grounds, 30 buildings on 95 acres are still maintained. These buildings range in completion date from 1852 to 2000. Given the age of the buildings, food service areas lack adequate climate control, either air conditioning or heat. This means staff must literally sweat it out during summer months and bundle up while working inside during winter months. These conditions are unacceptable at best for both patients and staff.

At the end of 2013, the governor announced $11 million would be released from withheld funds for setting up initial architectural plans and designs for improvements. At that time, he also announced his support for the future of a new facility.

This session, one of my colleagues in the Senate has filed a bill to increase the amount of revenue bonds that may be issued by the State Board of Public Buildings. Senate Bill 723 would raise the current bonds cap of $775 million by $400 million, to a total of $1.175 billion that could be used for repair or renovation of existing facilities, as well as construction of a new mental health facility. The measure would also raise the current cap of $175 million for bonds issued by the State Board of Public Buildings for repairs at Missouri’s institutes of higher education, increasing these bonds by $200 million, for a total of $375 million.

This raised cap bodes well for many of our state’s universities, where older buildings and services are also suffering from lack of repair. One proposed example of this is UCM and the W.C. Morris Science and Math Building. It is important that we address infrastructure problems such as these, because it is difficult to prepare students to compete for high-tech jobs of tomorrow when the buildings of yesterday are crumbling around them.

As of today, I am supportive of this bill and will work for its passage. I am pleased to see legislation in front of the General Assembly so quickly after the final report was given. I look forward to the opportunities SB 723 provides, in terms of assistance to our state properties and higher education institutions.