Proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas Health Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care workforce needs and drive the state economy.

89(R) HJR 203 - Engrossed version - Bill Text

89R13064 KJE-F

By: Wilson, Darby, Howard, Shofner, Kitzman

H.J.R. No. 203

A JOINT RESOLUTION

proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the Texas Health

Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible

institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care

workforce needs and drive the state economy.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by

adding Section 21 to read as follows:

Sec.

21.

(a)

The Texas Health Care Workforce Education Fund

is established for the purpose of providing a dedicated,

independent, and equitable source of funding to enable

comprehensive regional universities in this state to address Texas'

health care workforce needs.

(b) The fund consists of:

(1)

money appropriated, credited, or transferred to

the fund by the legislature;

(2)

gifts, grants, and donations received for purposes

of the fund; and

(3)

investment earnings and interest earned on amounts

credited to the fund.

(c)

The legislature shall provide for administration of the

fund, which shall be invested in the manner and according to the

standards provided for investment of the permanent university fund.

The expenses of managing the fund and its assets shall be paid from

the fund.

(d)

In each state fiscal biennium, the legislature 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.

(e)

The legislature biennially shall allocate the amounts

appropriated under this section, or shall provide for a biennial

allocation of those amounts, to eligible state universities to

carry out the purposes of the fund. The money shall be allocated

based on an equitable formula established by the legislature or an

agency designated by the legislature. The legislature shall review

and as appropriate adjust, or provide for a review and adjustment

of, the allocation formula at the end of each state fiscal biennium.

(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

distributions may not be increased until the purchasing power of

the fund investment assets is restored.

The amount appropriated

from 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.

(g)

The legislature shall establish criteria by which a

state university may become eligible to receive a portion of the

distributions from the fund.

(h)

An eligible state university may use distributions from

the fund only for the support and maintenance of educational and

general activities that address the health care workforce needs of

the state. The legislature by general law may provide that a state

university that receives a distribution from the fund in a state

fiscal biennium may use the funds in a subsequent state fiscal

biennium without further appropriation.

(i)

For purposes of Section 22, Article VIII, of this

constitution:

(1)

money in the fund is dedicated by this

constitution; and

(2)

an appropriation of state tax revenues for the

purpose of depositing money to the credit of the fund is treated as

if it were an appropriation of revenues dedicated by this

constitution.

SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be

submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2025.

The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the

proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing the Texas

Health Care Workforce Education Fund to provide funding to eligible

institutions of higher education to address Texas' health care

workforce needs and drive the state economy."