AUSTIN – Dallas will be home to the state's next public law school under a bill that won tentative House approval today.

Budget woes mean funding for the law school remains uncertain, at least for the next two years. At that point, officials could come back to the Legislature again for funding, or seek tuition revenue bonds instead. But for now, the budget the Legislature is poised to approve does not include the $40 million needed to establish the school.

Still, North Texas lawmakers said simply getting approval for the University of North Texas Law School – which already passed the Senate – is a great achievement. This is the third legislative session in which they've pushed for it.

“We’ve got it to the two-yard line now,” said Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas. “It’s a good example for the state and for the region, that if you want to add a new institution of higher education, it’s good to have strong community input.”

Dallas lawmakers have had to make their case over the requests of other regions for graduate schools. An amendment added to the UNT law school bill on Wednesday would commission a study on how to bring a law school to South Texas. The bill, with the amendment, now returns to the Senate for final approval.

And they’ve had to battle the recommendations of Texas’ Higher Education Coordinating Board, which has said there’s no urgent need for a law school in North Texas.

North Texas lawmakers vehemently disagree. They say that while the region has two private law schools – at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth – there's no option for students who can't afford private school tuition.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the largest in the country without a public law school. Houston, meanwhile, has two, while Austin and Lubbock each have one.

The UNT Law School, which died in the House on a last-minute technicality in 2007, is also expected to be a boon for downtown Dallas: the historic Old City Hall has been set aside for the school, and the city of Dallas has offered more than $14 million in bond funds to get the facility ready, plus $2 million in start-up costs.

“This took years of work, and we’re very grateful that legislators from all across the state supported us in launching this initiative,” said UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson, a former state legislator and former Dallas County judge.

“We’re going to keep talking about appropriations, about funding, up until the end.”