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Gov. Eric Holcomb signed legislation Wednesday that spends $291 million to pay cash for higher education building projects.

It’s the first bill signed into law this year.

Indiana finished the last budget cycle with nearly $300 million more than it expected. Republicans this session decided to spend that money paying cash for higher ed capital projects they had already approved.

In a statement, Holcomb points out doing so – instead of bonding those projects – will save the state more than $135 million over the next 20 years.

But Democrats said for weeks the money should be spent on other priorities. Chief among them, they say, is teacher pay.

Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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