82R6544 KEL-F
By: Coleman H.B. No. 2115
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the distribution of money appropriated from the
national research university fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 62.146, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
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:
(1) the eligibility of institutions under Section
62.145; and
(2) the amount of restricted research funds expended
by an eligible institution in a state fiscal year.
(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.
(c) As soon as practicable after January 1 of each year, the
coordinating board shall provide the comptroller with verified
information relating to the amounts of restricted research funds
expended by eligible institutions as necessary to determine the
distributions of money from the fund under Section 62.148 for that
fiscal year.
(d) Information submitted to the coordinating board by
institutions for purposes of this subchapter and the coordinating
board's certification or verification of that information under
this section [subsection] are subject to audit by the state auditor
in accordance with Chapter 321, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Section 62.148, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 62.148. DISTRIBUTION [ALLOCATION] OF APPROPRIATED
FUNDS TO ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS. (a) In each state fiscal year, the
comptroller shall distribute to eligible institutions the total
amount of money appropriated from the fund for that fiscal year,
except as provided by Subsection (d).
(b) Subject to Subsection (c), the total amount of money
appropriated from the fund for a state fiscal year shall be
distributed among the eligible institutions in proportion to the
average amount of restricted research funds expended by each
institution each year for the three preceding state fiscal years.
(c) If in calculating distributions for a state fiscal year
under Subsection (b) the comptroller determines that one or more
eligible institutions will not receive a distribution of at least
$2.5 million for that fiscal year and if sufficient funds are
available for the purpose, the comptroller shall distribute the
appropriated money as follows:
(1) $2.5 million to each eligible institution,
regardless of the amount the institution would otherwise have
received under Subsection (b); and
(2) any remaining amount to the eligible institutions
that would have received a distribution under Subsection (b) of at
least $2.5 million for that fiscal year, in proportion to the
average amount of restricted research funds used to calculate
distributions to the institutions under Subsection (b).
(d) If in any state fiscal year the comptroller makes the
determination described by Subsection (c) but sufficient funds are
not available to make the full amount of each distribution required
by Subsection (c)(1), the comptroller shall retain within the fund
all amounts appropriated from the fund for that fiscal year.
Eligible institutions may not receive a distribution of money for
that state fiscal year, and the appropriation lapses at the end of
that fiscal year.
(e) For purposes of Subsection (b), the amount of restricted
research funds expended by an 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 standard accounting
methods the coordinating board prescribes under Section 62.146(a)
[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].
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.