Associated Press

AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers are moving forward with creating a new, unified campus for the University of Texas System in the Rio Grande valley.

Brownsville Rep. Rene Oliveira and other South Texas lawmakers laid out the legislation that would combine two campuses into a single university with a new medical school in South Texas.

The Board of Regents wants to merge Texas-Pan American in Edinburg and Texas-Brownsville and spend $100 million to accelerate plans for a medical school.

The Legislature has already set aside money for the project, but they still have not passed the laws to make it happen.

Oliveira said the new medical school would add hundreds of doctors to South Texas, where they are desperately needed. He said it would take up to two years to complete the merger.