Bill Text: TX HJR9 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment reducing The University of Texas System's share of the income and other benefits of the permanent university fund, transferring to the national research university fund and general revenue fund a portion of the annual distribution made from the permanent university fund to the available university fund, appropriating the portion transferred to the national research university fund, and dedicating the portion transferred to the general revenue fund to provide for the support and maintenance of public institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-10-15 - Referred to Appropriations [HJR9 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HJR9-Introduced.html
  87S30250 KJE-D
 
  By: Burrows H.J.R. No. 9
 
 
 
A JOINT RESOLUTION
  proposing a constitutional amendment reducing The University of
  Texas System's share of the income and other benefits of the
  permanent university fund, transferring to the national research
  university fund and general revenue fund a portion of the annual
  distribution made from the permanent university fund to the
  available university fund, appropriating the portion transferred
  to the national research university fund, and dedicating the
  portion transferred to the general revenue fund to provide for the
  support and maintenance of public institutions of higher education.
         BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 17(c), Article VII, Texas Constitution,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  Pursuant to a two-thirds vote of the membership of each
  house of the legislature, institutions of higher education may be
  created at a later date by general law, and, when created, such an
  institution shall be entitled to participate in the funding
  provided by this section if it is not created as a part of The
  University of Texas System or The Texas A&M University System. An
  institution that is entitled to participate in dedicated funding
  provided by [Article VII,] Section 18[,] of this article, other
  than funding transferred to the national research university fund
  or general revenue fund under that section, [constitution] may not
  be entitled to participate in the funding provided by this section.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 18(b), (e), and (f), Article VII, Texas
  Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System
  may issue bonds and notes not to exceed a total amount of 10 [20]
  percent of the cost value of investments and other assets of the
  permanent university fund (exclusive of real estate) at the time of
  issuance thereof, and may pledge all or any part of its one-third
  [two-thirds] interest in the available university fund to secure
  the payment of the principal and interest of those bonds and notes,
  for the purpose of acquiring land either with or without permanent
  improvements, constructing and equipping buildings or other
  permanent improvements, major repair and rehabilitation of
  buildings and other permanent improvements, acquiring capital
  equipment and library books and library materials, and refunding
  bonds or notes issued under this section or prior law, at or for The
  University of Texas System administration and the following
  component institutions of the system:
               (1)  The University of Texas at Arlington;
               (2)  The University of Texas at Austin;
               (3)  The University of Texas at Dallas;
               (4)  The University of Texas at El Paso;
               (5)  The University of Texas of the Permian Basin;
               (6)  The University of Texas at San Antonio;
               (7)  The University of Texas at Tyler;
               (8)  The University of Texas Health Science Center at
  Dallas;
               (9)  The University of Texas Medical Branch at
  Galveston;
               (10)  The University of Texas Health Science Center at
  Houston;
               (11)  The University of Texas Health Science Center at
  San Antonio;
               (12)  The University of Texas System Cancer Center;
               (13)  The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler;
  and
               (14)  The University of Texas Institute of Texan
  Cultures at San Antonio.
         (e)  The available university fund consists of the
  distributions made to it from the total return on all investment
  assets of the permanent university fund, including the net income
  attributable to the surface of permanent university fund land. The
  amount of any distributions to the available university fund shall
  be determined by the board of regents of The University of Texas
  System in a manner intended to provide the available university
  fund with a stable and predictable stream of annual distributions
  and to maintain over time the purchasing power of permanent
  university fund investments and annual distributions to the
  available university fund. The amount distributed to the available
  university fund in a fiscal year must be not less than the amount
  needed to pay the principal and interest due and owing in that
  fiscal year on bonds and notes issued under this section and to meet
  any obligation under this section that amounts be transferred in
  that fiscal year to the national research university fund and the
  general revenue fund. If the purchasing power of permanent
  university fund investments for any rolling 10-year period is not
  preserved, the board may not increase annual distributions to the
  available university fund until the purchasing power of the
  permanent university fund investments is restored, except as
  necessary to pay the principal and interest due and owing on bonds
  and notes issued under this section. An annual distribution made by
  the board to the available university fund during any fiscal year
  may not exceed an amount equal to seven percent of the average net
  fair market value of permanent university fund investment assets as
  determined by the board, except as necessary to pay any principal
  and interest due and owing on bonds issued under this section. The
  expenses of managing permanent university fund land and investments
  shall be paid by the permanent university fund.
         (f)  Out of one-third of the annual distribution from the
  permanent university fund to the available university fund, there
  shall be appropriated an annual sum sufficient to pay the principal
  and interest due on the bonds and notes issued by the Board of
  Regents of The Texas A&M University System under this section and
  prior law, and the remainder of that one-third of the annual
  distribution to the available university fund shall be appropriated
  to the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System which
  shall have the authority and duty in turn to appropriate an
  equitable portion of the same for the support and maintenance of The
  Texas A&M University System administration, Texas A&M University,
  and Prairie View A&M University. The Board of Regents of The Texas
  A&M University System, in making just and equitable appropriations
  to Texas A&M University and Prairie View A&M University, shall
  exercise its discretion with due regard to such criteria as the
  board may deem appropriate from year to year. Out of one third [the
  other two-thirds] of the annual distribution from the permanent
  university fund to the available university fund there shall be
  appropriated an annual sum sufficient to pay the principal and
  interest due on the bonds and notes issued by the Board of Regents
  of The University of Texas System under this section and prior law,
  and the remainder of that one-third [such two-thirds] of the annual
  distribution to the available university fund, shall be
  appropriated for the support and maintenance of The University of
  Texas at Austin and The University of Texas System administration.
  Out of the remaining one-third of the annual distribution from the
  permanent university fund to the available university fund, the
  Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, in the manner
  prescribed by the comptroller of public accounts, shall annually
  transfer:
               (1)  25 percent of that one-third to the national
  research university fund established under Section 20 of this
  article; and
               (2)  75 percent of that one-third to the general
  revenue fund, to be appropriated only for the support and
  maintenance of public institutions of higher education according to
  equitable formulas prescribed by law.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 20(d) and (f), Article VII, Texas
  Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
         (d)  In each state fiscal biennium, the legislature shall
  appropriate the amount transferred to the fund under Section 18(f)
  of this article and 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.
         (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
  appropriations from the total return on investment assets of the
  fund [distributions] may not be increased until the purchasing
  power of the fund investment assets is restored. The amount
  appropriated from the total return on investment assets of 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.
         SECTION 4.  The following temporary provision is added to
  the Texas Constitution:
         TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies to
  the constitutional amendment proposed by the 87th Legislature, 3rd
  Called Session, 2021, reducing The University of Texas System's
  share of the income and other benefits of the permanent university
  fund, transferring to the national research university fund and
  general revenue fund a portion of the annual distribution made from
  the permanent university fund to the available university fund,
  appropriating the portion transferred to the national research
  university fund, and dedicating the portion transferred to the
  general revenue fund to provide for the support and maintenance of
  public institutions of higher education.
         (b)  The amendment to Section 18, Article VII, of this
  constitution does not impair any obligation created by the issuance
  of bonds or notes by the board of regents of The University of Texas
  System in accordance with that section before May 7, 2022, and all
  outstanding bonds and notes validly issued by the board under that
  section remain valid, enforceable, and binding and shall be paid in
  full, both principal and interest, in accordance with their terms
  and from the sources pledged to their payment. In order to ensure
  that the amendment of that section does not impair any obligation
  created by the issuance of those bonds and notes, notwithstanding
  the amendments to Subsections (e) and (f) of that section:
               (1)  the amount allocated for appropriation to The
  University of Texas System for a state fiscal year under Subsection
  (f) of that section shall be increased, if necessary, to the amount
  necessary to pay the principal and interest due and owing during
  that fiscal year on those bonds and notes; and
               (2)  the amounts allocated for transfer to the national
  research university fund and the general revenue fund for a state
  fiscal year under Subsection (f) of that section shall be
  proportionately reduced by a total amount equal to the amount, if
  any, by which the amount allocated for appropriation to The
  University of Texas System is increased under Subdivision (1) of
  this subsection for that fiscal year.
         (c)  This section expires June 1, 2052.
         SECTION 5.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
  submitted to the voters at an election to be held May 7, 2022. The
  ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
  proposition: "The constitutional amendment reducing The
  University of Texas System's share of the income and other benefits
  of the permanent university fund, transferring to the national
  research university fund and general revenue fund a portion of the
  annual distribution made from the permanent university fund to the
  available university fund, appropriating the portion transferred
  to the national research university fund, and dedicating the
  portion transferred to the general revenue fund to provide for the
  support and maintenance of public institutions of higher
  education."
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