Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3789 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R8121 KFF-D
2	2	By: Morrison H.B. No. 3789
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the Texas emerging technology fund.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 490.057, Government Code, is transferred
10	10	to Subchapter A, Chapter 490, Government Code, renumbered as
11	11	Section 490.004, Government Code, and amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 490.004 [490.057]. CERTAIN INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL
13	13	[CONFIDENTIALITY]. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), this
14	14	section applies to information in any form provided by or on behalf
15	15	of an individual or entity being considered for an award from the
16	16	fund or a recipient of an award from the fund, including:
17	17	(1) information contained in, accompanying, or
18	18	derived from any application; and
19	19	(2) information [Information collected by the
20	20	governor's office, the committee, or the committee's advisory
21	21	panels] concerning the identity, background, finance, marketing
22	22	plans, trade secrets, or other commercially or academically
23	23	sensitive information of the [an] individual or entity [being
24	24	considered for an award from the fund is confidential unless the
25	25	individual or entity consents to disclosure of the information].
26	26	(b) The information described by Subsection (a) collected,
27	27	assembled, or maintained by or for the governor, the lieutenant
28	28	governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the
29	29	committee, or the committee's advisory panels is confidential and
30	30	may not be disclosed under Chapter 552.
31	31	(c) Any application for an award from the fund that is
32	32	withdrawn by the applicant before the award is made or that is
33	33	denied shall be returned to the applicant promptly on request,
34	34	together with all materials submitted by or on behalf of the
35	35	applicant that relate to the application, except that a record of
36	36	the submission and disposition of the application that does not
37	37	include any information described by Subsection (a) may be
38	38	retained.
39	39	(d) Not later than the 10th business day after the date a
40	40	contract for an award from the fund is entered into under Section
41	41	490.101, the governor's office shall prepare a summary of the
42	42	contract and shall make the summary available to the public. The
43	43	summary must include the award recipient's name and address, the
44	44	amount of funding applied for, and the type of emerging technology
45	45	to which the award relates. The summary must not include any
46	46	confidential information.
47	47	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 490, Government Code, is
48	48	amended by adding Sections 490.005 and 490.006 to read as follows:
49	49	Sec. 490.005. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT WITH AN OUTSIDE ENTITY.
50	50	(a) In this section, "investment portfolio" means the stocks or
51	51	other securities of the fund that:
52	52	(1) are held by the governor from time to time; and
53	53	(2) were received by the governor in consideration for
54	54	an award made from the fund under Subchapter D.
55	55	(b) The governor may contract with an outside entity to:
56	56	(1) assist in the negotiation and drafting of
57	57	contracts between the governor and a recipient of an award under
58	58	this chapter;
59	59	(2) oversee outstanding awards and monitor compliance
60	60	with a contract described by Subdivision (1);
61	61	(3) evaluate the fund's investment portfolio;
62	62	(4) advise the office of the governor regarding the
63	63	value and performance of the investment portfolio; and
64	64	(5) assist the governor in preparing the annual report
65	65	required by Section 490.006.
66	66	(c) A contract described by Subsection (b) may provide for
67	67	the outside entity to receive compensation from the fund each year.
68	68	(d) An outside entity with which the governor contracts
69	69	under this section must have substantial experience in evaluating
70	70	institutional investment practices and performance in order to
71	71	evaluate fund investment practices and performance.
72	72	Sec. 490.006. ANNUAL REPORT. (a) In this section,
73	73	"investment portfolio" has the meaning assigned by Section 490.005.
74	74	(b) Not later than January 1 of each year, the governor
75	75	shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Board that includes
76	76	the following information regarding the fund for the preceding
77	77	state fiscal year:
78	78	(1) the total number and amount of awards made;
79	79	(2) the number and amount of awards made under
80	80	Subchapters D, E, and F;
81	81	(3) the name of each award recipient, the recipient's
82	82	organizational structure, and the amount of the awards made to the
83	83	recipient;
84	84	(4) the total amount of funds received by each
85	85	recipient from any source for a project that receives an award under
86	86	Subchapter D, including:
87	87	(A) the amount awarded to the recipient from the
88	88	fund;
89	89	(B) the total amount of any funds received by the
90	90	recipient from the private sector; and
91	91	(C) the amount of any federal grants or loans
92	92	received by the recipient;
93	93	(5) a brief description of the investments that
94	94	constitute the fund's investment portfolio as of the end of that
95	95	reporting period;
96	96	(6) the total value of the fund's investment portfolio
97	97	as of the end of that reporting period; and
98	98	(7) the value of each investment in the fund's
99	99	investment portfolio as of the end of that reporting period.
100	100	(c) The annual report must also include information
101	101	regarding the planned and actual outcomes resulting from awards
102	102	made from the fund during the preceding two state fiscal years.
103	103	(d) The governor may not disclose in the report required by
104	104	this section the name of any person in the private sector that
105	105	invests in a project receiving an award under Subchapter D.
106	106	SECTION 3. Section 490.102(a), Government Code, is amended
107	107	to read as follows:
108	108	(a) Money appropriated to the fund by the legislature, less
109	109	amounts necessary to administer the fund under Section 490.055,
110	110	shall be allocated as follows:
111	111	(1) 60 [50] percent of the money for incentives for
112	112	collaboration between certain entities as provided by Subchapter D;
113	113	(2) 10 [16.67] percent of the money for research award
114	114	matching as provided by Subchapter E; and
115	115	(3) 30 [33.33] percent of the money for acquisition of
116	116	research superiority as provided by Subchapter F.
117	117	SECTION 4. Section 490.253(a), Government Code, is amended
118	118	to read as follows:
119	119	(a) The committee shall review and consider proposals by
120	120	public institutions of higher education for:
121	121	(1) creating new research superiority;
122	122	(2) attracting existing research superiority from
123	123	institutions of higher education not located in this state [and
124	124	other research entities]; [or]
125	125	(3) attracting existing research superiority from
126	126	entities other than institutions of higher education whether those
127	127	entities are located in or outside this state;
128	128	(4) enhancing existing research superiority by
129	129	attracting from institutions of higher education located outside
130	130	this state additional researchers and resources; or
131	131	(5) enhancing existing research superiority by
132	132	attracting additional researchers and resources from entities
133	133	other than institutions of higher education whether those entities
134	134	are located in or outside this state.
135	135	SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2011, the governor
136	136	shall submit the initial report required by Section 490.006,
137	137	Government Code, as added by this Act.
138	138	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
139	139	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
140	140	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
141	141	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
142	142	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.