89R13064 KJE-F
By: Parker S.J.R. No. 62
A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas Health
Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible
institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care
workforce needs and drive the state economy.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Section 21 to read as follows:
Sec. 21. (a) The Texas Health Care Workforce Education Fund
is established for the purpose of providing a dedicated,
independent, and equitable source of funding to enable
comprehensive regional universities in this state to address Texas'
health care workforce needs.
(b) The fund consists of:
(1) money appropriated, credited, or transferred to
the fund by the legislature;
(2) gifts, grants, and donations received for purposes
of the fund; and
(3) investment earnings and interest earned on amounts
credited to the fund.
(c) The legislature shall provide for administration of the
fund, which shall be invested in the manner and according to the
standards provided for investment of the permanent university fund.
The expenses of managing the fund and its assets shall be paid from
the fund.
(d) In each state fiscal biennium, the legislature may
appropriate as provided by Subsection (f) of this section all or a
portion of the total return on all investment assets of the fund to
carry out the purposes for which the fund is established.
(e) The legislature biennially shall allocate the amounts
appropriated under this section, or shall provide for a biennial
allocation of those amounts, to eligible state universities to
carry out the purposes of the fund. The money shall be allocated
based on an equitable formula established by the legislature or an
agency designated by the legislature. The legislature shall review
and as appropriate adjust, or provide for a review and adjustment
of, the allocation formula at the end of each state fiscal biennium.
(f) The portion of the total return on investment assets of
the fund that is available for appropriation in a state fiscal
biennium under this section is the portion determined by the
legislature, or an agency designated by the legislature, as
necessary to provide as nearly as practicable a stable and
predictable stream of annual distributions to eligible state
universities and to maintain over time the purchasing power of fund
investment assets. If the purchasing power of fund investment
assets for any rolling 10-year period is not preserved, the
distributions may not be increased until the purchasing power of
the fund investment assets is restored. The amount appropriated
from the fund in any fiscal year may not exceed an amount equal to
seven percent of the average net fair market value of the investment
assets of the fund, as determined by law. Until the fund has been
invested for a period of time sufficient to determine the
purchasing power over a 10-year period, the legislature may provide
by law for means of preserving the purchasing power of the fund.
(g) The legislature shall establish criteria by which a
state university may become eligible to receive a portion of the
distributions from the fund.
(h) An eligible state university may use distributions from
the fund only for the support and maintenance of educational and
general activities that address the health care workforce needs of
the state. The legislature by general law may provide that a state
university that receives a distribution from the fund in a state
fiscal biennium may use the funds in a subsequent state fiscal
biennium without further appropriation.
(i) For purposes of Section 22, Article VIII, of this
constitution:
(1) money in the fund is dedicated by this
constitution; and
(2) an appropriation of state tax revenues for the
purpose of depositing money to the credit of the fund is treated as
if it were an appropriation of revenues dedicated by this
constitution.
SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2025.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing the Texas
Health Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible
institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care
workforce needs and drive the state economy."