| 1 | 1 | | By: Burrows H.J.R. No. 13 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A JOINT RESOLUTION |
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| 5 | 5 | | proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas |
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| 6 | 6 | | university fund to provide funding for research activities |
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| 7 | 7 | | conducted by public institutions of higher education in the Texas |
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| 8 | 8 | | Tech University System or the University of Houston System. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | adding Section 21 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 21. (a) In this section, "fund" means the Texas |
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| 13 | 13 | | university fund. |
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| 14 | 14 | | (b) The Texas university fund is established to provide a |
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| 15 | 15 | | dedicated source of funding for research activities conducted by |
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| 16 | 16 | | public institutions of higher education in the Texas Tech |
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| 17 | 17 | | University System or the University of Houston System. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (c) The fund consists of money transferred or deposited to |
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| 19 | 19 | | the credit of the fund and any interest or other return on the |
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| 20 | 20 | | investment assets of the fund. |
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| 21 | 21 | | (d) The fund shall be administered by a board of directors. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The board consists of six members, appointed as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (1) three members of the board of regents of the Texas |
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| 24 | 24 | | Tech University System, selected by the chair of that board of |
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| 25 | 25 | | regents; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) three members of the board of regents of the |
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| 27 | 27 | | University of Houston System, selected by the chair of that board of |
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| 28 | 28 | | regents; and |
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| 29 | 29 | | (e) The fund shall be invested in the manner and according |
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| 30 | 30 | | to the standards provided for investment of the permanent |
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| 31 | 31 | | university fund. The expenses of managing the investments of the |
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| 32 | 32 | | fund shall be paid from the fund. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (f) For each state fiscal biennium, the legislature may |
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| 34 | 34 | | appropriate all or a portion of the total return on all investment |
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| 35 | 35 | | assets of the fund to the Texas Tech University System and the |
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| 36 | 36 | | University of Houston System in equal amounts to pay for research |
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| 37 | 37 | | activities conducted by component institutions of the respective |
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| 38 | 38 | | systems. The board of regents of each system shall determine the |
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| 39 | 39 | | manner of allocating money appropriated to the system from the fund |
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| 40 | 40 | | to component institutions of the system. |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be |
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| 42 | 42 | | submitted to the voters at an election to be held May 7, 2022. The |
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| 43 | 43 | | ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the |
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| 44 | 44 | | proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing the Texas |
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| 45 | 45 | | university fund to provide funding for research activities |
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| 46 | 46 | | conducted by public institutions of higher education in the Texas |
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| 47 | 47 | | Tech University System or the University of Houston System." |
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