Bill

SB 907

84(R) - 2015
Senate Higher Education
Senate Higher Education
Higher Education

Vote Recommendation

Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral

Author(s)

Charles Perry

Bill Caption

Relating to the powers and duties of the board of regents of the Texas Tech University System and to workers' compensation coverage for employees of the system's components.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

No fiscal implication to local governments is anticipated.  

Bill Analysis

SB 907 would reorganize the powers and duties of the board of regents of the Texas Tech University System particularly in regard to component institutions, remove unnecessary provisions, and delete archaic language. The bill would change the election terms for the board of regents to staggered six year terms with the terms of 3 members expiring on January 31 of odd-numbered years. 

Section 2 of SB 907 would add a subsection that allows the board of regents to accept donations and gifts from any source, to be held for university use. Many of the changes in SB 907 would amend statute by adding new headings as needed and would change designated section numbers, as well as other conforming changes.

SB 907 would also repeal Section 109.44 (allows board to build a research park on university), Section 109.46 (use of land by a United States agency for purpose of an armory), Section 109.47 (lease of land for National Guard armory), Section 109.49 (provision on the sale of crops), Section 110.04 (chief executive officer of Texas Tech University is also the chief executive officer of Health Sciences Center), and Section 110.14 (provision on sale of obsolete medical equipment).   

Vote Recommendation Notes

Overall, SB 907 mostly updates existing statutory language to give the board of regents power to govern the Texas Tech University System instead of just Texas Tech University, recognizing the fact that there is a university system now. This bill neither affirms nor abridges the liberty principles upon which we base our vote recommendations, therefore we are neutral on SB 453. 

We would like to highlight that changing the election method to staggered six-year terms and allowing the board of regents to accept gifts from any source for university use are positive changes that increase the ability of the board to govern the university system, which is a step in the right direction.