Bill
HB 1000
84(R) - 2015
House Higher Education
House Higher Education
Higher Education
Vote Recommendation
No
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Neutral
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Neutral
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Neutral
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Negative
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Neutral
Author(s)
John Zerwas
Bill Caption
Relating to state support for general academic teaching institutions in this state.
Fiscal Notes
No significant fiscal implication to the State or local government.
Bill Analysis
HB 1000 would rename the Texas Competitive Knowledge Fund (TCKF) as the
Texas Research University Fund, and would make changes to the
eligibility of the fund. The bill would provide that eligible
institutions are institutions designated as research universities that
made total annual research expenditures of at least $450 million in
three consecutive fiscal years, and removes emerging research
universities from eligibility.
The bill would rename the Research Development Fund (RDF) as the
Comprehensive Research Fund and would make changes to the eligibility of
the fund. The bill would provide that eligible institutions are general academic teaching institutions other than The University of
Texas (UT) at Austin, Texas A&M University, or emerging research
universities.
The bill would create the Core Research Support Fund to provide funding
to promote increased research capacity at emerging research
universities50 percent of funding would
be distributed to eligible institutions each fiscal year based on the
average amount of restricted research funds expended by each institution
per year for the three preceding state fiscal years. The remaining 50 percent would be
distributed based on the average amount of total research funds expended
by each institution per year for the three preceding state fiscal
years. The funds received would be used
only for the support and maintenance of educational and general
activities that promote increased research capacity at the institution.
This bill would not negatively impact General Revenue Funds and only shift funds between each of the new and redefined funds.
Vote Recommendation Notes
05/25/2015 update:
Minor changes were made that do not affect our vote recommendation. The second chamber sponsor is Senator Seliger.
First chamber recommendation:
While this bill would not authorize new appropriations, it does set up the framework for the appropriation and spending of significant sums of taxpayer funds on state research universities. Due to the expansion in the cost of government which this legislation would facilitate, we are opposed.