Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 51	House Author:  Branch et al.
Effective:  See below	Senate Sponsor:  Zaffirini et al.

            House Bill 51 amends the Education Code to require each institution of higher education designated as a research university or an emerging research university to submit to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board a detailed, long-term strategic plan documenting how it intends to achieve recognition as a research university or enhance its reputation as such.

            House Bill 51 authorizes The Texas A&M University System board of regents to issue tuition revenue bonds in an aggregate principal amount of up to $5 million to finance capital acquisition, construction, or improvements, including roads or related infrastructure at Texas A&M University at Galveston to assist the institution in recovering from any damage or other impact caused by Hurricane Ike. The bill authorizes The University of Texas System board of regents to issue tuition revenue bonds in the aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million to finance capital acquisition, construction, or improvements or related infrastructure at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to assist the institution in  recovering from any damage or other impact caused by Hurricane Ike. Each board is authorized to transfer funds among institutions, branches, and other components of its respective system if there are insufficient funds for the board to meet its obligations under these provisions, but any transfer of funds to The University of Texas System board of regents to reimburse the board for debt service on its bonds is subject to prior approval of the Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

            House Bill 51 requires the coordinating board to determine biennially the amount the board considers appropriate to fund excellence in specific programs and fields at general academic teaching institutions and to make recommendations to the governor and the LBB for program funding in the next biennium; the bill also establishes an incentive grant program to encourage and assist institutions other than research universities or emerging research universities to develop and maintain specific programs or fields of study of the highest national rank or recognition.

            House Bill 51 requires the coordinating board to review the institutional groupings under its accountability system at least once every 10 years. The bill reallocates the annual $262.5 million appropriation to the higher education fund (HEF) allocated for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 as a corrective measure to the previous allocation for the five-year period ending August 31, 2010, and it sets forth the annual allocation of the HEF among eligible institutions for fiscal years 2011 through 2015. The bill entitles the University of North Texas at Dallas to participate in the HEF as soon as it operates as a general academic teaching institution, and it adds the Lamar Institute of Technology to the list of institutions receiving an allocation starting in fiscal year 2011.

            House Bill 51 establishes the research university development fund to provide funding to research universities and emerging research universities for the recruitment and retention of highly qualified faculty and the enhancement of research productivity and requires the coordinating board to distribute funds to eligible research and emerging research universities in proportion to the average amount of total research funds spent by each institution annually during the three most recent fiscal years. The bill establishes performance incentive funding for general academic teaching institutions in which half of the funding is distributed among eligible institutions in proportion to any increase in the average number of degrees awarded annually by each institution in the two most recent fiscal years compared to the two-year average for the preceding fiscal biennium and the other half is distributed in proportion to the average number of degrees awarded in the three most recent fiscal years, with degrees weighted as prescribed in the bill.  The bill also establishes the Texas Research Incentive Program, administered by the coordinating board, to provide matching funds to assist eligible institutions in leveraging private gifts for the enhancement of research productivity and faculty recruitment.

            Contingent on voter approval of a constitutional amendment proposed by the 81st Legislature, the bill establishes the national research university fund, outside the state treasury and in the custody of the comptroller, to provide a dedicated, independent, and equitable source of funding to enable emerging research universities in Texas to achieve national prominence as major research universities. The bill sets forth eligibility requirements to receive distributions from the fund and provides for the use of such distributions by an eligible institution.

            House Bill 51 repeals provisions relating to the research development fund and the HEF, and to the expenditure of funds allocated to Lamar University for the Lamar Institute of Technology. The bill creates a select interim committee to study the feasibility of collecting data and maintaining an electronic data collection relating to specialized technology research projects conducted by public universities, public university research facilities, or other state institutions to facilitate coordination and improve access to and awareness of the research and technology. The bill sets forth the study charges, committee composition, and reporting requirements and deadline, and it provides for the committee's abolishment on January 16, 2011.

            Except for provisions relating to reallocations of the HEF, which take effect June 17, 2009, and provisions relating to money appropriated to or distributed from the research university development fund and the national research university fund, which take effect September 1, 2011, House Bill 51 takes effect September 1, 2009, but only if a specific appropriation for the implementation of the bill is provided in a general appropriations act of the 81st Legislature.