Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB783 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Shapiro S.B. No. 783
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the Texas emerging technology fund, including transfers
7	7	between the fund and the Texas Enterprise 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32	32	withdrawn by the applicant before the award is made or that is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 to the Legislative Budget Board and post on the office
76	76	of the governor's Internet website a report that includes the
77	77	following information regarding the fund for the preceding state
78	78	fiscal year:
79	79	(1) the total number and amount of awards made;
80	80	(2) the number and amount of awards made under
81	81	Subchapters D, E, and F;
82	82	(3) the name of each award recipient, the recipient's
83	83	organizational structure, and the amount of the awards made to the
84	84	recipient;
85	85	(4) the total amount of funds received by each
86	86	recipient from any source for a project that receives an award under
87	87	Subchapter D, including:
88	88	(A) the amount awarded to the recipient from the
89	89	fund;
90	90	(B) the total amount of any funds received by the
91	91	recipient from the private sector; and
92	92	(C) the amount of any federal grants or loans
93	93	received by the recipient;
94	94	(5) a brief description of the investments that
95	95	constitute the fund's investment portfolio as of the end of that
96	96	reporting period; and
97	97	(6) the total value of the fund's investment portfolio
98	98	as of the end of that reporting period.
99	99	(c) The annual report must also include aggregate
100	100	information regarding the planned and actual outcomes resulting
101	101	from awards made from the fund during the preceding two state fiscal
102	102	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	(e) The governor shall notify each member of the legislature
107	107	by electronic mail when a new report required by this section is
108	108	posted on the office of the governor's Internet website. The
109	109	notification required by this subsection must be sent to the
110	110	electronic mail address provided to the member as a legislator and
111	111	must:
112	112	(1) contain an electronic copy of the report; or
113	113	(2) include an electronic link to the report on the
114	114	website.
115	115	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 490.102, Government
116	116	Code, is amended to read as follows:
117	117	(a) Money appropriated to the fund by the legislature, less
118	118	amounts necessary to administer the fund under Section 490.055,
119	119	shall be allocated as follows:
120	120	(1) 60 [50] percent of the money for incentives for
121	121	collaboration between certain entities as provided by Subchapter D;
122	122	(2) 10 [16.67] percent of the money for research award
123	123	matching as provided by Subchapter E; and
124	124	(3) 30 [33.33] percent of the money for acquisition of
125	125	research superiority as provided by Subchapter F.
126	126	SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 490, Government Code, is
127	127	amended by adding Section 490.104 to read as follows:
128	128	Sec. 490.104. TRANSFERS BETWEEN TEXAS EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
129	129	FUND AND TEXAS ENTERPRISE FUND. Notwithstanding any other law,
130	130	including an appropriations act, the governor may not, without the
131	131	prior written approval of the Legislative Budget Board:
132	132	(1) make an award or transfer otherwise authorized by
133	133	law from the Texas emerging technology fund to the Texas Enterprise
134	134	Fund under Section 481.078 for purposes of making a grant or other
135	135	expenditure from the Texas Enterprise Fund; or
136	136	(2) make a grant or transfer otherwise authorized by
137	137	law from the Texas Enterprise Fund to the Texas emerging technology
138	138	fund for purposes of making an award or other expenditure from the
139	139	Texas emerging technology fund.
140	140	SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 490.253, Government
141	141	Code, is amended to read as follows:
142	142	(a) The committee shall review and consider proposals by
143	143	public institutions of higher education for:
144	144	(1) creating new research superiority;
145	145	(2) attracting existing research superiority from
146	146	institutions of higher education not located in this state [and
147	147	other research entities]; [or]
148	148	(3) attracting existing research superiority from
149	149	entities other than institutions of higher education, whether those
150	150	entities are located in or outside this state;
151	151	(4) enhancing existing research superiority by
152	152	attracting from institutions of higher education located outside
153	153	this state additional researchers and resources; or
154	154	(5) enhancing existing research superiority by
155	155	attracting additional researchers and resources from entities
156	156	other than institutions of higher education, whether those entities
157	157	are located in or outside this state.
158	158	SECTION 6. Not later than January 1, 2011, the governor
159	159	shall submit the initial report required by Section 490.006,
160	160	Government Code, as added by this Act.
161	161	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
162	162	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
163	163	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
164	164	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
165	165	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.