Two versions of a bill that would grant NIU’s West End Campus infrastructure $14.4 million in funding currently are on the table in Washington, D.C.

HR 3550, or the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, is meant to replace a 1998 bill allocating transportation infrastructure funding across the country.

The bill also would allocate $8 million to the city of DeKalb to maintain Annie Glidden Road.

If the bill passes, NIU’s funds would be utilized to build roads over a six-year period on more than 200 acres of land the university owns west of the Convocation Center, said Kathy Buettner, executive director of External Affairs and Economic Development.

The roads would form the grid-like infrastructure for future building projects including married student housing and research and clinical facilities.

“The next step is for the House and Senate bills to be considered and reconciled by a conference committee to resolve differences,” Buettner said.

The Senate’s version of the bill provides $318 billion over six years, higher than the House version’s $275 billion, Buettner said, while President George W. Bush has indicated he would like a bill in the $250 to $265 billion level.

In a March 30 statement by the White House, Bush’s advisers recommended a veto of the bill if funding was not lowered to his request.

A decision is needed by April 30 when the current bill expires, Buettner said.

The choices include extending the current TEA 21 bill further or concluding the conference negotiations with a bill that the House, Senate and the White House can agree on, Buettner said.

The bill has gathered support in Illinois from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Representative and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.