AUSTIN A House panel on Friday scuttled a controversial plan being pushed by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, to locate the first two years of medical education in Hidalgo County as part of a proposal to create a new mega university in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Valley delegation has been jockeying all session to push identical proposals House Bill 1000 and Senate Bill 24 to merge the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas-Pan American into a new university in the region that includes a medical school.

As part of negotiations early in the session, the Valley delegation decided to leave the decision of where to place the medical school up to UT regents, who would appoint an advisory group that could consider proposals.

However, any sense of unity among Valley lawmakers has fractured into a Hidalgo County vs. Cameron County showdown over who has final say of where the medical school facilities are ultimately located.

Hinojosa is now pushing language for Hidalgo County to host the first two years of medical education. Cameron County lawmakers are crying foul, saying Hinojosa reneged on his word to allow the UT system to pick a final location.

On Friday, the Valley beef spilled over to the House Higher Education Committee when the Senate's version of the bill made its way to the lower chamber.

I don't want to be a referee, state Rep. Drew Darby, a San Angelo Republican who sits on the House higher ed panel, said of the emerging rift between Hidalgo and Cameron counties.

State Rep. Armando Martinez, D-Weslaco, who is shepherding Hinojosa's SB 24 through the lower chamber, tried Friday to pass a substitute version of the bill that included the language locating the first two years of medical education in Hidalgo County.

But he failed when Darby opposed the plan.

Because of the agreement we had from the start I can't support this, Darby said. The body does not do well with debating regions when it comes to institutions of higher education.

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House panel rejects Hinojosa language for Valley medical school