Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HJR14 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.J.R. No. 14
2	2
3	3
4	4	A JOINT RESOLUTION
5	5	proposing constitutional amendments limiting the public taking of
6	6	private property, establishing the national research university
7	7	fund to fund emerging research universities, and eliminating the
8	8	higher education fund.
9	9	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	ARTICLE 1.
11	11	SECTION 1.01. Section 17, Article I, Texas Constitution, is
12	12	amended to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 17. (a) No person's property shall be taken, damaged,
14	14	or destroyed for or applied to public use without adequate
15	15	compensation being made, unless by the consent of such person, and
16	16	only if the taking, damage, or destruction is for:
17	17	(1) the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property,
18	18	notwithstanding an incidental use, by:
19	19	(A) the State, a political subdivision of the
20	20	State, or the public at large; or
21	21	(B) an entity granted the power of eminent domain
22	22	under law; or
23	23	(2) the elimination of urban blight on a particular
24	24	parcel of property.
25	25	(b) In this section, "public use" does not include the
26	26	taking of property under Subsection (a) of this section for
27	27	transfer to a private entity for the primary purpose of economic
28	28	development or enhancement of tax revenues.
29	29	(c) On or after January 1, 2010, the legislature may enact a
30	30	general, local, or special law granting the power of eminent domain
31	31	to an entity only on a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to
32	32	each house.
33	33	(d) When a person's property is taken under Subsection (a)
34	34	of this section [; and, when taken], except for the use of the
35	35	State, [such] compensation as described by Subsection (a) shall be
36	36	first made, or secured by a deposit of money; and no irrevocable or
37	37	uncontrollable grant of special privileges or immunities[,] shall
38	38	be made; but all privileges and franchises granted by the
39	39	Legislature, or created under its authority, shall be subject to
40	40	the control thereof.
41	41	SECTION 1.02. The constitutional amendment proposed in this
42	42	article shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held
43	43	November 3, 2009. The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for
44	44	or against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment to
45	45	prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property
46	46	for public use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and
47	47	enjoyment of the property by the State, a political subdivision of
48	48	the State, the public at large, or entities granted the power of
49	49	eminent domain under law or for the elimination of urban blight on a
50	50	particular parcel of property, but not for certain economic
51	51	development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to limit
52	52	the legislature's authority to grant the power of eminent domain to
53	53	an entity."
54	54	ARTICLE 2.
55	55	SECTION 2.01. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended
56	56	by adding Section 20 to read as follows:
57	57	Sec. 20. (a) There is established the national research
58	58	university fund for the purpose of providing a dedicated,
59	59	independent, and equitable source of funding to enable emerging
60	60	research universities in this state to achieve national prominence
61	61	as major research universities.
62	62	(b) The fund consists of money transferred or deposited to
63	63	the credit of the fund and any interest or other return on the
64	64	investment assets of the fund. The legislature may dedicate state
65	65	revenue to the credit of the fund.
66	66	(c) The legislature shall provide for administration of the
67	67	fund, which shall be invested in the manner and according to the
68	68	standards provided for investment of the permanent university fund.
69	69	The expenses of managing the investments of the fund shall be paid
70	70	from the fund.
71	71	(d) In each state fiscal biennium, the legislature may
72	72	appropriate as provided by Subsection (f) of this section all or a
73	73	portion of the total return on all investment assets of the fund to
74	74	carry out the purposes for which the fund is established.
75	75	(e) The legislature biennially shall allocate the amounts
76	76	appropriated under this section, or shall provide for a biennial
77	77	allocation of those amounts, to eligible state universities to
78	78	carry out the purposes of the fund. The money shall be allocated
79	79	based on an equitable formula established by the legislature or an
80	80	agency designated by the legislature. The legislature shall review
81	81	and as appropriate adjust, or provide for a review and adjustment,
82	82	of the allocation formula at the end of each state fiscal biennium.
83	83	(f) The portion of the total return on investment assets of
84	84	the fund that is available for appropriation in a state fiscal
85	85	biennium under this section is the portion determined by the
86	86	legislature, or an agency designated by the legislature, as
87	87	necessary to provide as nearly as practicable a stable and
88	88	predictable stream of annual distributions to eligible state
89	89	universities and to maintain over time the purchasing power of fund
90	90	investment assets. If the purchasing power of fund investment
91	91	assets for any rolling 10-year period is not preserved, the
92	92	distributions may not be increased until the purchasing power of
93	93	the fund investment assets is restored. The amount appropriated
94	94	from the fund in any fiscal year may not exceed an amount equal to
95	95	seven percent of the average net fair market value of the investment
96	96	assets of the fund, as determined by law. Until the fund has been
97	97	invested for a period of time sufficient to determine the
98	98	purchasing power over a 10-year period, the legislature may provide
99	99	by law for means of preserving the purchasing power of the fund.
100	100	(g) The legislature shall establish criteria by which a
101	101	state university may become eligible to receive a portion of the
102	102	distributions from the fund. A state university that becomes
103	103	eligible to receive a portion of the distributions from the fund in
104	104	a state fiscal biennium remains eligible to receive additional
105	105	distributions from the fund in any subsequent state fiscal
106	106	biennium. The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M
107	107	University are not eligible to receive money from the fund.
108	108	(h) An eligible state university may use distributions from
109	109	the fund only for the support and maintenance of educational and
110	110	general activities that promote increased research capacity at the
111	111	university.
112	112	SECTION 2.02. Subsection (i), Section 17, Article VII,
113	113	Texas Constitution, is repealed.
114	114	SECTION 2.03. The following temporary provision is added to
115	115	the Texas Constitution:
116	116	TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies
117	117	to the constitutional amendment proposed by the 81st Legislature,
118	118	Regular Session, 2009, establishing the national research
119	119	university fund to enable emerging research universities in this
120	120	state to achieve national prominence as major research universities
121	121	and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the
122	122	national research university fund.
123	123	(b) The amendment to add Section 20 to Article VII of this
124	124	constitution and to repeal Section 17(i), Article VII, of this
125	125	constitution takes effect January 1, 2010.
126	126	(c) On January 1, 2010, any amount in or payable to the
127	127	credit of the higher education fund established by Section 17(i),
128	128	Article VII, Texas Constitution, shall be transferred to the credit
129	129	of the national research university fund.
130	130	(d) This temporary provision expires January 1, 2011.
131	131	SECTION 2.04. The constitutional amendment proposed by this
132	132	Article shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held
133	133	November 3, 2009. The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for
134	134	or against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment
135	135	establishing the national research university fund to enable
136	136	emerging research universities in this state to achieve national
137	137	prominence as major research universities and transferring the
138	138	balance of the higher education fund to the national research
139	139	university fund."
140	140	______________________________ ______________________________
141	141	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
142	142	I certify that H.J.R. No. 14 was passed by the House on May
143	143	11, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
144	144	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
145	145	H.J.R. No. 14 on May 29, 2009, by a non-record vote, and requested
146	146	the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
147	147	differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
148	148	conference committee report on H.J.R. No. 14 on May 31, 2009, by the
149	149	following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 1 present, not voting; and that
150	150	the House adopted H.C.R. No. 285 authorizing certain corrections in
151	151	H.J.R. No. 14 on June 1, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
152	152	Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
153	153	______________________________
154	154	Chief Clerk of the House
155	155	I certify that H.J.R. No. 14 was passed by the Senate, with
156	156	amendments, on May 25, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
157	157	1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
158	158	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
159	159	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.J.R.
160	160	No. 14 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and
161	161	that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 285 authorizing certain
162	162	corrections in H.J.R. No. 14 on June 1, 2009, by the following
163	163	vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
164	164	______________________________
165	165	Secretary of the Senate
166	166	RECEIVED: __________________
167	167	Date
168	168	__________________
169	169	Secretary of State