Appropriations-Related Legislation
SB 1370 by Madla/Truitt – Relating to the disposition of certain tax revenue for the protection and development of grape and wine production. SB 1370 specifically appropriates up to $50,000 per year in tax revenue from wine sales to Texas Cooperative Extension and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station each for the purposes of viticulture research and programs.
House Bill 1765 by Morrison/Shapiro - Relating to the creation of program and funding for emerging technology industries. HB 1765 establishes the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to cultivate economic and technological opportunities that will allow Texas to remain competitive in both national and global markets. The Emerging Technology Fund is to be a General Revenue-Dedicated fund to be used for research and development activities in emerging technology industries. The Emerging Technology Fund will include three major areas of investment: increasing research collaboration between public and private sector entities to develop new Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization where the seeds of an idea can take root in a university lab and eventually grow into a new product marketed by a new firm; matching research grants provided by both federal and private sponsors to help innovators acquire the capital they need to bring their idea to life; attracting more top-notch research teams from other universities around the nation that will help put Texas universities on the cutting edge of technology research and development. The Fund will receive up to $200M in funds this biennium.
House Bill 2129 by Bonnen/Armbrister - Relating to energy-saving measures that reduce the emission of air contaminants. Among other things, the bill directs the Energy Systems Lab of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station to develop at least three alternative methods for achieving a 15 percent greater potential energy savings in residential, commercial, and industrial construction than the amount now required. The bill was amended to direct a contract of $216,000 each year be given to the Energy Systems Lab by a non-profit Houston group for the development and annual calculation of creditable statewide emissions reductions obtained through wind and other renewable energy resources for the State Implementation Plan.
House Bill 3001 by Morrison / Duncan - Relating to the amount of the annual constitutional appropriation to certain agencies and institutions of higher education and to the allocation of those funds to those agencies and institutions. The bill updates the allocation of Higher Education Funds (HEF) among institutions based on most current available data for fiscal years 2006 and 2007. Additionally, beginning in Fiscal Year 2008, the bill authorizes an additional $87.5 million per year in HEF funding and provides the allocation by institution.
See table below for comparisons of existing annual allocations to the 2006-07 allocation and the allocation for 2008 and beyond.
| Current Annual HEF Allocation | Annual Allocation for 2006-07 | Annual Allocation for 2008 and beyond* | Change: 06-07 from current | Change: 2008 from current | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UT Pan American | 6,081,112 | 8,588,232 | 12,882,348 | 2,507,120 | 6,801,236 |
| UT Brownsville | 1,050,580 | 2,791,194 | 4,186,790 | 1,740,614 | 3,136,210 |
| A&M - CC | 3,687,722 | 5,519,329 | 8,278,993 | 1,831,607 | 4,591,271 |
| A&M - K | 3,555,651 | 3,368,155 | 5,052,232 | (187,496) | 1,496,581 |
| A&M Internat'l | 1,778,155 | 2,086,807 | 3,130,211 | 308,652 | 1,352,056 |
| West Texas A&M | 3,671,345 | 3,184,593 | 4,776,890 | (486,752) | 1,105,545 |
| A&M - Commerce | 4,229,747 | 3,563,785 | 5,345,678 | (665,962) | 1,115,931 |
| A&M - Texarkana | 1,027,070 | 1,097,568 | 1,646,352 | 70,498 | 619,282 |
| UH | 25,986,116 | 23,517,427 | 35,276,140 | (2,468,689) | 9,290,024 |
| UH-Clear Lake | 3,853,447 | 4,000,892 | 6,001,337 | 147,445 | 2,147,890 |
| UH-Downtown | 5,453,977 | 6,418,767 | 9,628,151 | 964,790 | 4,174,174 |
| UH-Victoria | 1,659,449 | 1,521,922 | 2,282,883 | (137,527) | 623,434 |
| Midwestern State | 3,007,669 | 2,289,565 | 3,434,348 | (718,104) | 426,679 |
| UNT | 18,021,033 | 17,424,822 | 26,137,233 | (596,211) | 8,116,200 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 6,633,109 | 4,683,847 | 7,025,771 | (1,949,262) | 392,662 |
| Texas Southern | 7,191,493 | 7,437,642 | 11,156,463 | 246,149 | 3,964,970 |
| Texas Tech | 20,961,881 | 17,886,318 | 26,829,477 | (3,075,563) | 5,867,596 |
| Texas Woman's | 6,974,897 | 5,616,139 | 8,424,209 | (1,358,758) | 1,449,312 |
| Angelo State | 3,887,211 | 2,390,535 | 3,585,802 | (1,496,676) | (301,409) |
| Lamar University | 5,737,451 | 7,473,672 | 11,210,508 | 1,736,221 | 5,473,057 |
| Sam Houston State | 5,864,608 | 6,610,870 | 9,916,306 | 746,262 | 4,051,698 |
| Southwest Texas | 14,479,112 | 13,199,517 | 19,799,276 | (1,279,595) | 5,320,164 |
| Sul Ross | 1,635,271 | 1,362,515 | 2,043,772 | (272,756) | 408,501 |
| Sul Ross RGC | 266,322 | 253,220 | 379,831 | (13,102) | 113,509 |
| LUIT | - | ||||
| Lamar - Orange | 743,967 | 743,365 | 1,115,048 | (602) | 371,081 |
| Lamar - Port Arthur | 2,336,605 | 793,412 | 1,190,119 | (1,543,193) | (1,146,486) |
| TSTC | 3,850,000 | 3,850,000 | 5,775,000 | - | 1,925,000 |
| UNT HSC | 3,640,000 | 5,426,261 | 8,139,391 | 1,786,261 | 4,499,391 |
| TTU HSC | 7,735,000 | 11,899,627 | 17,849,441 | 4,164,627 | 10,114,441 |
| Statewide Total, HEF | 175,000,000 | 175,000,000 | 262,500,000 | (0) | 87,500,000 |