The Governor's proposed $242-million budget for higher education construction shows the OSU-Cascades expansion as third on the priority list.

State Representative Jason Conger says the project is expected to receive about $16-million of that money, which is a demonstration of Kitzhaber's  promise to put education as a priority, and it's a nonpartisan issue.

"It doesn't hurt that all of the Central Oregon delegations who were squarely behind this were Republicans; that the Governor's a Democrat. Clearly it makes it not a partisan choice, which is a good thing; it's another reason to celebrate this. And I sort of think it reinforces my point that the project obviously makes a lot of sense and it speaks for itself."

Conger says the budget won't be voted on until the end of the session; but he doesn't see any problem with it's passage.