By: Branch, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 51
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 2009;
May 4, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Higher
Education; May 25, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0;
May 25, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 51 By: Zaffirini
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures to enhance and maintain the quality of state
universities, including funding and incentives to support emerging
public research universities in developing and maintaining
programs of the highest tier, to the abolition of the higher
education fund, and to the institutional groupings under the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board's accountability system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.358 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.358. LONG-TERM STRATEGIC PLAN FOR RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY OR EMERGING RESEARCH UNIVERSITY. (a) The governing
board of each institution of higher education designated as a
research university or emerging research university under the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board's accountability system shall
submit to the coordinating board, in the form and manner prescribed
by the coordinating board, a detailed, long-term strategic plan
documenting the strategy by which the institution intends to
achieve recognition as a research university, or enhance the
university's reputation as a research university, as applicable.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt rules for the administration of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 61.059, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
(o) In addition to the other funding recommendations
required by this section, biennially the board shall determine the
amount that the board considers appropriate for purposes of
providing funding under Section 61.0596 in the following state
fiscal biennium to carry out the purposes of that section and shall
make recommendations to the governor and the Legislative Budget
Board for funding those programs in that biennium. To the extent
the board considers appropriate, the board may include in the
formulas established under this section the funding to be provided
under Section 61.0596.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0596 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0596. UNIVERSITY FUNDING FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPECIFIC
PROGRAMS AND FIELDS; INCENTIVE GRANTS. (a) The board shall
administer this section to encourage and assist general academic
teaching institutions, other than public state colleges, that are
not research universities or emerging research universities
according to the institutional groupings under the board's higher
education accountability system to develop and maintain specific
programs or fields of study of the highest national rank or
recognition for that type of program or field.
(b) To assist the institution in achieving the highest
national rank or recognition for the applicable degree program and
from money available for the purpose, the board shall award
incentive grants to general academic teaching institutions
described by Subsection (a) that the board considers to have
demonstrated the greatest commitment to success in developing or
improving, consistent with the mission of the institution, the
quality of an existing degree program designated by the
institution. An institution must use a grant under this subsection
for faculty recruitment or other faculty support with respect to
the designated degree program for which the grant is awarded,
including establishment of endowed faculty positions or
enhancement of faculty compensation as considered appropriate by
the institution.
(c) An institution may designate only one degree program at
a time for consideration for new funding under Subsection (b). The
institution may change its designation with the consent of the
board. If the board determines that an institution has met all the
applicable benchmarks for the institution's designated program,
the institution may designate another degree program for
consideration for new funding under Subsection (b).
(d) The board shall establish a series of benchmarks
applicable to each degree program designated by an institution
under this section. The institution becomes eligible for funding
under Subsection (b) for each benchmark the board determines that
the institution has met. The board shall establish the amount of
funding for each benchmark met in a manner that provides an
effective incentive to assist the institution to continue its
efforts to meet the remaining benchmarks for its designated
program.
(e) Unless the board determines that a different number of
benchmarks is appropriate, the board shall establish three
benchmarks for each designated degree program. The board shall
identify one or more persons who have relevant expertise and do not
reside in this state to assist the board in establishing the
benchmarks and associated funding levels for each type of degree
program designated by an institution under this section.
(f) An institution that designates a degree program to
receive funding under Subsection (b) shall reimburse the board for
the costs incurred by the board in administering this section with
respect to the institution's designated program.
(g) In addition to supporting the programs designated by
institutions for consideration to receive incentive grants under
Subsection (b), from money available for the purpose, the board
shall provide additional money as the board determines appropriate
to assist the institutions described by Subsection (a) in
maintaining the excellence of programs or fields of study that have
achieved the highest national ranking or recognition for that type
of program or field.
(h) The legislature may not appropriate money for grants or
other financial assistance to general academic teaching
institutions under this section before the board certifies that one
or more institutions have met at least one of the benchmarks
established by the board for the institutions' designated degree
programs under Subsection (d).
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 61.0904 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0904. REVIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL GROUPINGS. At least
once every 10 years, the board shall conduct a review of the
institutional groupings under the board's accountability system,
including a review of the criteria for and definitions assigned to
those groupings.
SECTION 5. The heading to Chapter 62, Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 62. CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY [DIVISION OF
CONSTITUTIONALLY APPROPRIATED] FUNDS TO SUPPORT [AMONG CERTAIN]
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION[; RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT FUND]
SECTION 6. Section 62.003(1), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) Except as otherwise provided by Subchapters C, D,
F, and G, "eligible ["Eligible] institution" means the eligible
agencies and institutions of higher education listed in Article
VII, Section 17(b), of the Constitution of Texas, and any
institution or agency of higher education that is later made
eligible to participate in the disbursement of funds pursuant to
Article VII, Section 17(c), of the Constitution of Texas.
SECTION 7. Chapter 62, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapters C, D, and F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. RESEARCH UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT FUND
Sec. 62.051. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means an institution of
higher education designated as a research university or emerging
research university under the coordinating board's accountability
system.
(2) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
Sec. 62.052. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
provide funding to research universities and emerging research
universities for the recruitment and retention of highly qualified
faculty and the enhancement of research productivity at those
universities.
Sec. 62.053. FUNDING. (a) For each state fiscal year, the
coordinating board shall distribute any funds appropriated by the
legislature for the purposes of this subchapter, and any other
funds made available for the purposes of this subchapter, to
eligible institutions based on the average amount of total research
funds expended by each institution annually during the three most
recent state fiscal years, according to the following rates:
(1) at least $1 million for every $10 million of the
average annual amount of those research funds expended by the
institution, if that average amount for the institution is $50
million or more; and
(2) at least $500,000 for every $10 million of the
average annual amount of those research funds expended by the
institution, if that average amount for the institution is less
than $50 million.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), the amount of total
research funds expended by an eligible institution in a state
fiscal year is the amount of those funds as reported to the
coordinating board by the institution for that fiscal year, subject
to any adjustment by the coordinating board in accordance with the
standards and accounting methods the coordinating board prescribes
for purposes of this section. If the funds available for
distribution for a state fiscal year under Subsection (a) are not
sufficient to provide the amount specified by Subsection (a) for
each eligible institution or exceed the amount sufficient for that
purpose, the available amount shall be distributed in proportion to
the total amount to which each institution is otherwise entitled
under Subsection (a).
Sec. 62.054. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
rules for the administration of this subchapter, including any
rules the coordinating board considers necessary regarding the
submission to the coordinating board by eligible institutions of
any student data required for the coordinating board to carry out
its duties under this subchapter.
SUBCHAPTER D. PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE FUNDING
Sec. 62.071. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "At-risk student" means an undergraduate student
of an eligible institution:
(A) whose score on the Scholastic Assessment Test
(SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) is less than the national
mean score of students' scores on that test;
(B) who has been awarded a grant under the
federal Pell Grant program;
(C) who was 20 years of age or older on the date
the student initially enrolled in the institution;
(D) who is enrolled as a part-time student; or
(E) who did not receive a high school diploma but
received a high school equivalency certificate within the last six
years.
(2) "Critical field" means:
(A) the field of engineering, computer science,
mathematics, physical science, allied health, nursing, or teacher
certification in a field of science or mathematics; and
(B) any other field of study identified as a
critical field by the coordinating board in "Closing the Gaps," the
state's master plan for higher education.
(3) "Eligible institution" means a general academic
teaching institution other than a public state college.
(4) "General academic teaching institution" and
"public state college" have the meanings assigned by Section
61.003.
Sec. 62.072. FUNDING. (a) For each state fiscal year, the
coordinating board shall distribute any performance incentive
funds appropriated by the legislature for purposes of this
subchapter, and any other funds made available for the purposes of
this subchapter, to eligible institutions as follows:
(1) 50 percent to be distributed among eligible
institutions in proportion to the increase, if any, in the average
number of degrees awarded annually by each institution in the two
most recent fiscal years from the average number of degrees awarded
annually by that institution in the two fiscal years immediately
preceding those fiscal years, using the weights assigned to each
degree under the table prescribed by Subsection (b); and
(2) the remaining 50 percent to be distributed among
eligible institutions in proportion to the average number of
degrees awarded annually by each institution in the three most
recent fiscal years, using the weights assigned to each degree
under the table prescribed by Subsection (b).
(b) A number of points is assigned for each degree awarded
by an eligible institution according to the following table:
POINTS
Noncritical Field/Not At-Risk Student 1.0
Noncritical Field/At-Risk Student 2.0
Critical Field/Not At-Risk Student 2.0
Critical Field/At-Risk Student 3.0
Sec. 62.073. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
rules for the administration of this subchapter, including any
rules the coordinating board considers necessary regarding the
submission to the coordinating board by eligible institutions of
any student data required for the coordinating board to carry out
its duties under this subchapter.
SUBCHAPTER F. TEXAS RESEARCH INCENTIVE PROGRAM (TRIP)
Sec. 62.121. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means an institution of
higher education designated as an emerging research university
under the coordinating board's accountability system.
(2) "Gift" includes cash, cash equivalents,
marketable securities, closely held securities, money market
holdings, partnership interests, personal property, real property,
minerals, and life insurance proceeds.
(3) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003.
(4) "Program" means the Texas Research Incentive
Program (TRIP) established under this subchapter.
Sec. 62.122. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION. The coordinating
board shall develop and administer the Texas Research Incentive
Program (TRIP) in accordance with this subchapter to provide
matching funds to assist eligible institutions in leveraging
private gifts for the enhancement of research productivity and
faculty recruitment.
Sec. 62.123. MATCHING GRANTS. (a) An eligible institution
that receives gifts or endowments from private sources in a state
fiscal year for the purpose of enhancing research activities at the
institution, including a gift or endowment for endowed chairs,
professorships, facilities, equipment, program costs, or graduate
stipends or fellowships, is entitled to receive, out of funds
appropriated for the purposes of the program for that fiscal year, a
matching grant in an amount determined according to the following
rates:
(1) 50 percent of the amount of the gifts and
endowments, if the total amount of gifts and endowments is $100,000
or more but not more than $999,999;
(2) 75 percent of the amount of the gifts and
endowments, if the total amount of gifts and endowments is $1
million or more but not more than $1,999,999; or
(3) 100 percent of the amount of the gifts and
endowments, if the total amount of gifts and endowments is $2
million or more.
(b) An eligible institution is not entitled to matching
funds under the program for:
(1) a gift that has been pledged but has not been
received by the institution;
(2) a gift for undergraduate scholarships or grants;
or
(3) any portion of gifts or endowments received by the
institution from a single source in a state fiscal year in excess of
$10 million.
(c) The coordinating board shall establish procedures for
the certification by the coordinating board of an eligible
institution's receipt of a qualifying gift or endowment. A cash
gift or endowment must be certified as of the date the gift or
endowment was deposited by the institution in a depository bank or
invested by the institution as authorized by law. A non-cash gift
must be certified as of the date the gift is converted to cash, and
is considered to have been received on that date for purposes of
this subchapter.
(d) If the funds appropriated for the program for a state
fiscal year are insufficient to provide matching grants in the
amounts specified by this section for all qualifying private gifts
and endowments received by eligible institutions during that fiscal
year, the coordinating board shall provide matching grants for
those gifts and endowments in order of their certification date,
and shall provide matching grants for any remaining unmatched gifts
and endowments in the following fiscal year using funds
appropriated to the program for that following year, to the extent
funds are available.
(e) Matching grants received by an eligible institution
under this section may not be considered as a basis to reduce,
directly or indirectly, the amount of money otherwise appropriated
to the institution.
Sec. 62.124. RULES. The coordinating board shall adopt
rules for the administration of this subchapter.
SECTION 8. Chapter 62, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter G to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. NATIONAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY FUND
Sec. 62.141. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
allocate appropriations from the national research university fund
to provide a dedicated, independent, and equitable source of
funding to enable emerging research universities in this state to
achieve national prominence as major research universities.
Sec. 62.142. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means a general academic
teaching institution that is eligible to receive distributions of
money under this subchapter.
(2) "Endowment funds" means funds treated as endowment
funds under the coordinating board's accountability system.
(3) "Fund" means the national research university
fund.
(4) "General academic teaching institution" has the
meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
Sec. 62.143. ADMINISTRATION AND INVESTMENT OF FUND. (a)
The national research university fund is a fund outside the state
treasury in the custody of the comptroller.
(b) The comptroller shall administer and invest the fund in
accordance with Section 20, Article VII, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 62.144. FUNDING. (a) The fund consists of any amounts
appropriated or transferred to the credit of the fund under the
Texas Constitution or otherwise appropriated or transferred to the
credit of the fund under this section or another law.
(b) The comptroller shall deposit to the credit of the fund
all interest, dividends, and other income earned from investment of
the fund.
(c) The comptroller may accept gifts or grants from any
public or private source for the fund.
Sec. 62.145. ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE DISTRIBUTIONS FROM
FUND. (a) A general academic teaching institution is eligible to
receive a distribution of money under this subchapter for each year
of a state fiscal biennium if:
(1) the institution is designated as an emerging
research university under the coordinating board's accountability
system;
(2) in each of the two state fiscal years preceding the
state fiscal biennium, the institution expended at least $45
million in restricted research funds; and
(3) the institution satisfies at least four of the
following criteria:
(A) the value of the institution's endowment
funds is at least $400 million;
(B) the institution awarded at least 200 doctor
of philosophy degrees during each of the two academic years
preceding the state fiscal biennium;
(C) the entering freshman class of the
institution for each of those two academic years demonstrated high
academic achievement, as determined according to standards
prescribed by the coordinating board by rule, giving consideration
to the future educational needs of the state as articulated in the
coordinating board's "Closing the Gaps" report;
(D) the institution is designated as a member of
the Association of Research Libraries or has a Phi Beta Kappa
chapter or has received an equivalent recognition of research
capabilities and scholarly attainment as determined according to
standards prescribed by the coordinating board by rule;
(E) the faculty of the institution for each of
those two academic years was of high quality, as determined
according to coordinating board standards based on the professional
achievement and recognition of the institution's faculty,
including the election of faculty members to national academies;
and
(F) the institution has demonstrated a
commitment to high-quality graduate education, as determined
according to standards prescribed by the coordinating board by
rule, including the number of graduate-level programs at the
institution, the institution's admission standards for graduate
programs, and the level of institutional support for graduate
students.
(b) A general academic teaching institution that becomes
eligible to receive a distribution of money under this subchapter
remains eligible to receive a distribution in each subsequent state
fiscal year.
Sec. 62.146. ACCOUNTING STANDARDS; VERIFICATION OF
INFORMATION. (a) The coordinating board by rule shall prescribe
standard methods of accounting and standard methods of reporting
information for the purpose of determining the eligibility of
institutions under Section 62.145.
(b) As soon as practicable in each even-numbered year, based
on information submitted by the institutions to the coordinating
board as required by the coordinating board, the coordinating board
shall certify to the legislature verified information relating to
the criteria established by Section 62.145 to be used to determine
which institutions are initially eligible for distributions of
money from the fund. Information submitted to the coordinating
board by institutions for purposes of this subchapter and the
coordinating board's certification of that information under this
subsection are subject to audit by the state auditor in accordance
with Chapter 321, Government Code.
Sec. 62.147. INELIGIBILITY OF INSTITUTIONS RECEIVING
PERMANENT UNIVERSITY FUND SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE. The University
of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University are ineligible to
receive money under this subchapter.
Sec. 62.148. ALLOCATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS TO ELIGIBLE
INSTITUTIONS. In each state fiscal year, the comptroller shall
distribute to eligible institutions the total amount appropriated
from the fund for that fiscal year. The amount shall be allocated
to the eligible institutions based on an equitable formula adopted
by the legislature to carry out the purposes of the fund as
established by Section 20, Article VII, Texas Constitution. In
adopting the allocation formula, the legislature may consider the
recommendations of the coordinating board, including
recommendations on the appropriate elements and relative weights of
elements of the formula.
Sec. 62.149. USE OF ALLOCATED AMOUNTS. (a) An eligible
institution may use money received under this subchapter only for
the support and maintenance of educational and general activities
that promote increased research capacity at the institution.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a), permitted activities
include the use of the money to:
(1) provide faculty support and pay faculty salaries;
(2) purchase equipment or library materials;
(3) pay graduate stipends; and
(4) support research performed at the institution,
including undergraduate research.
(c) Money received in a fiscal year by an institution under
this subchapter that is not used in that fiscal year by the
institution may be held and used by the institution in subsequent
fiscal years for the purposes prescribed by this section.
SECTION 9. Section 62.094, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 62.094. FUNDING. (a) The research development fund
consists of the [amount deposited to the credit of the fund under
Section 62.025 in each state fiscal year, the amount appropriated
or transferred to the credit of the fund by the legislature under
Subsection (b), and any other] amounts appropriated or transferred
to the credit of the fund under this section or other law.
(b) [In each state fiscal year, the legislature may
appropriate or provide for the transfer to the credit of the
research development fund of an amount not less than the amount
deposited to the credit of the fund under Section 62.025 in that
fiscal year.
[(c)] The comptroller shall deposit all interest,
dividends, and other income earned from investment of the research
development fund to the credit of the fund.
(c) [(d)] The comptroller may accept gifts or grants from
any public or private source for the research development fund.
SECTION 10. Sections 62.025 and 62.026, Education Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 11. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board, in consultation with institutions of higher education that
are eligible institutions under Subchapter C, Chapter 62, Education
Code, as added by this Act, shall study and make recommendations
regarding the appropriate definitions and categories of research
expenditures to be included and applied in determining an
institution's eligibility for and distributions from the Research
University Development Fund.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2010, the coordinating board
shall report its study and deliver its recommendations to the:
(1) governor;
(2) lieutenant governor;
(3) speaker of the house of representatives;
(4) chair of the Senate Committee on Finance;
(5) chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education;
(6) chair of the House Committee on Appropriations;
and
(7) chair of the House Committee on Higher Education.
(c) At the request of an institution of higher education
that consults with the coordinating board under this section, the
coordinating board shall include with its recommendations the
written response of the institution to those recommendations.
SECTION 12. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt rules relating to the administration of Subchapters C,
D, F, and G, Chapter 62, Education Code, as added by this Act, as
soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 13. (a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), (c),
and (d) of this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
(b) Money may not be appropriated to or distributed from the
research university development fund under Subchapter C, Chapter
62, Education Code, as added by this Act, or the national research
university fund under Subchapter G, Chapter 62, Education Code, as
added by this Act, before the state fiscal biennium that begins
September 1, 2011.
(c) The funding for Section 8 of this Act is contingent on
the approval by the voters of the constitutional amendment proposed
by the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, establishing the
national research university fund to enable emerging research
universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major
research universities and transferring the balance of the higher
education fund to the national research university fund. If that
constitutional amendment is not approved by the voters, Sections 9
and 10 of this Act do not take effect.
(d) This Act does not make an appropriation. This Act takes
effect only if a specific appropriation for the implementation of
this Act is provided in a general appropriations act of the 81st
Legislature.
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