83R21170 KEL-D
By: Carona S.B. No. 1887
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to excellence funding for health-related institutions of
higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 62, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter H to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. EXCELLENCE FUND FOR
HEALTH-RELATED INSTITUTIONS
Sec. 62.161. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
sustain and expand levels of excellence in all aspects of the
missions of health-related institutions to educate and train the
health care workforce, to provide excellent clinical care, and to
develop new ways to treat diseases and address the health issues
facing Texas and the nation.
Sec. 62.162. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible institution" means a health-related
institution that is eligible to receive distributions of money
under this subchapter.
(2) "Health-related institution" means:
(A) The Texas A&M University System Health
Science Center;
(B) The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston;
(C) The University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center;
(D) The University of Texas Health Science Center
at San Antonio;
(E) The University of Texas Health Science Center
at Houston;
(F) the University of North Texas Health Science
Center at Fort Worth; and
(G) Texas Tech University Health Sciences
Center.
Sec. 62.163. EXCELLENCE FUND. (a) The excellence fund for
health-related institutions is an account in the general revenue
fund and consists of money appropriated or transferred to the
credit of the fund under this section or other law.
(b) The comptroller may accept gifts or grants for the fund
from any public or private source.
Sec. 62.164. ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS; CONTRIBUTION. (a) To
be eligible for annual distributions from the fund, a
health-related institution must:
(1) have a medical school; and
(2) make a one-time, initial transfer to the fund from
the institution's non-formula appropriations in an amount of not
less than $2.5 million, as determined by the institution, and as
specified in the General Appropriations Act.
(b) In making appropriations of the money in the fund, the
legislature shall ensure that each eligible institution, before the
end of the state fiscal biennium following the biennium in which the
institution made the initial transfer to the fund as required by
Subsection (a)(2), receives total distributions from the fund in an
amount that is equal to or exceeds the amount of its initial
transfer.
Sec. 62.165. DISTRIBUTIONS TO INSTITUTIONS. (a) In each
state fiscal year, an eligible institution is entitled to receive a
share of the money in the fund in proportion to the institution's
percentage of the total points awarded under Subsection (b) for
that fiscal year. If in a state fiscal biennium the total amount of
the institution's shares of the money in the fund is less than any
amount the institution is entitled to receive in that biennium
under Section 62.164(b), the institution's share for each fiscal
year shall be increased by the amount necessary to comply with
Section 62.164(b), and the shares of the other institutions shall
be reduced accordingly.
(b) For each state fiscal year, a total of 25 points is
awarded to eligible institutions for each of the following metrics,
with each institution receiving points, or fractional points
rounded to the nearest hundredth, in proportion to the
institution's share of the aggregate amount, for all eligible
institutions, of the applicable amounts described in each of the
following categories:
(1) Sponsored Research--the dollar amount of federal
and private research expenditures as reflected in the coordinating
board's annual research expenditures report;
(2) Faculty Quality--the number of awards to faculty,
such as Nobel Prizes and memberships in national academies, by
entities recognized for that purpose in the coordinating board's
accountability system;
(3) Doctoral Degrees--the number of doctoral degrees
awarded, as reflected in the coordinating board's accountability
system;
(4) Philanthropy--the dollar amount of cash gifts
received as reported in the Council for Aid to Education's
voluntary support of education survey or in the institutions'
Internal Revenue Service Form 990, whichever is considered
appropriate for the institution by the coordinating board;
(5) Commercialization--the number of licensing
agreements executed, as reported in the coordinating board's
technology development and transfer report; and
(6) Patents--the number of patents awarded, as
reported in the coordinating board's technology development and
transfer report.
(c) For each state fiscal biennium, each metric prescribed
by Subsection (b) is determined using the average of the applicable
numbers or amounts for the three preceding years for which the
information is available, as determined on the January 1 preceding
the biennium, and the determined average governs distributions from
the fund for each year of that biennium.
SECTION 2. 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, 2013.