ARDMORE, Okla. -- It is not quite dead in the water, but it would appear that Ardmore’s hopes for a branch university campus are far from materializing. State lawmakers were present at the final Legislative Luncheon of the session Friday at the Ardmore Convention Center. Robin Beal reports.

Ardmore's hopes for a branch campus have dwindled in recent weeks as news of opposition in the State Senate surfaced which would lay the financial groundwork for transitioning the Ardmore Higher Education Center into a full-fledged university.

At Friday’s final Legislative Luncheon of the year, the major discussion was that legislation. It has been tied up in the state senate for weeks. Senator Johnnie Crutchfield told the crowd that for his colleagues who represent other districts -- in particular districts who already have a university presence in place -- the Ardmore proposal is a hard sell, partly because existing universities say they are financially squeezed as it is.

Crutchfield says cutting another wedge out of the already small pie of state funds is an option that makes a lot of university presidents uncomfortable, and that ultimately has led to a stall-out this session.

"The possibilities of transitioning this year are basically not very real at this point," Sen. Crutchfield says.

If the bill remains on the back burner until the end of session, Crutchfield says he and Representative Greg Piatt will go back to the drawing board and begin the process of drafting something for next year.

Unless something extraordinary happens in Oklahoma City in the next two weeks, there will be no Ardmore branch campus in 2008.