Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR203 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R13064 KJE-F
2	2	By: Wilson H.J.R. No. 203
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7	7	A JOINT RESOLUTION
8	8	proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas Health
9	9	Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible
10	10	institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care
11	11	workforce needs and drive the state economy.
12	12	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
14	14	adding Section 21 to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 21. (a) The Texas Health Care Workforce Education Fund
16	16	is established for the purpose of providing a dedicated,
17	17	independent, and equitable source of funding to enable
18	18	comprehensive regional universities in this state to address Texas'
19	19	health care workforce needs.
20	20	(b) The fund consists of:
21	21	(1) money appropriated, credited, or transferred to
22	22	the fund by the legislature;
23	23	(2) gifts, grants, and donations received for purposes
24	24	of the fund; and
25	25	(3) investment earnings and interest earned on amounts
26	26	credited to the fund.
27	27	(c) The legislature shall provide for administration of the
28	28	fund, which shall be invested in the manner and according to the
29	29	standards provided for investment of the permanent university fund.
30	30	The expenses of managing the fund and its assets shall be paid from
31	31	the fund.
32	32	(d) In each state fiscal biennium, the legislature may
33	33	appropriate as provided by Subsection (f) of this section all or a
34	34	portion of the total return on all investment assets of the fund to
35	35	carry out the purposes for which the fund is established.
36	36	(e) The legislature biennially shall allocate the amounts
37	37	appropriated under this section, or shall provide for a biennial
38	38	allocation of those amounts, to eligible state universities to
39	39	carry out the purposes of the fund. The money shall be allocated
40	40	based on an equitable formula established by the legislature or an
41	41	agency designated by the legislature. The legislature shall review
42	42	and as appropriate adjust, or provide for a review and adjustment
43	43	of, the allocation formula at the end of each state fiscal biennium.
44	44	(f) The portion of the total return on investment assets of
45	45	the fund that is available for appropriation in a state fiscal
46	46	biennium under this section is the portion determined by the
47	47	legislature, or an agency designated by the legislature, as
48	48	necessary to provide as nearly as practicable a stable and
49	49	predictable stream of annual distributions to eligible state
50	50	universities and to maintain over time the purchasing power of fund
51	51	investment assets. If the purchasing power of fund investment
52	52	assets for any rolling 10-year period is not preserved, the
53	53	distributions may not be increased until the purchasing power of
54	54	the fund investment assets is restored. The amount appropriated
55	55	from the fund in any fiscal year may not exceed an amount equal to
56	56	seven percent of the average net fair market value of the investment
57	57	assets of the fund, as determined by law. Until the fund has been
58	58	invested for a period of time sufficient to determine the
59	59	purchasing power over a 10-year period, the legislature may provide
60	60	by law for means of preserving the purchasing power of the fund.
61	61	(g) The legislature shall establish criteria by which a
62	62	state university may become eligible to receive a portion of the
63	63	distributions from the fund.
64	64	(h) An eligible state university may use distributions from
65	65	the fund only for the support and maintenance of educational and
66	66	general activities that address the health care workforce needs of
67	67	the state. The legislature by general law may provide that a state
68	68	university that receives a distribution from the fund in a state
69	69	fiscal biennium may use the funds in a subsequent state fiscal
70	70	biennium without further appropriation.
71	71	(i) For purposes of Section 22, Article VIII, of this
72	72	constitution:
73	73	(1) money in the fund is dedicated by this
74	74	constitution; and
75	75	(2) an appropriation of state tax revenues for the
76	76	purpose of depositing money to the credit of the fund is treated as
77	77	if it were an appropriation of revenues dedicated by this
78	78	constitution.
79	79	SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
80	80	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2025.
81	81	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
82	82	proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing the Texas
83	83	Health Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible
84	84	institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care
85	85	workforce needs and drive the state economy."