Sec. 62.1481.  PERMANENT ENDOWMENT FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH BASE FUNDING.  (a)  For each state fiscal year, an eligible institution is entitled to a distribution of a portion of the total amount allocated for the permanent endowment for education and research base funding under Section 62.148(c)(1) for that fiscal year.  The portion to which an eligible institution is entitled is a fraction computed as follows:
(1)  subject to Subsection (c), for an institution that spent at least the amount determined under Subsection (b) in federal and private research funds in each of the preceding two state fiscal years, an amount computed by dividing two by the sum of:
(A)  the number of institutions entitled to receive a distribution under this subdivision multiplied by two; and
(B)  the number of institutions to which Subdivision (2) applies; or
(2)  for an institution not described by Subdivision (1), half the amount to which an institution to which Subdivision (1) applies is entitled.
(b)  For purposes of Subsection (a)(1), the minimum amount in federal and private research funds required to be spent in each of the preceding two state fiscal years is:
(1)  for the state fiscal year beginning September 1, 2023, $45 million; or
(2)  for a state fiscal year beginning on or after September 1, 2024, the amount determined under this subsection for the preceding state fiscal year adjusted by the increase, if any, in the general price level during the preceding state fiscal year, as determined by the coordinating board on the basis of changes in the consumer price index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor or a successor agency.
(c)  An eligible institution is entitled to receive a distribution under Subsection (a)(1) only if:
(1)  in each of the state fiscal years beginning September 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, the institution spent at least the amount in federal and private research funds described by that subdivision; or
(2)  the legislature appropriates money to the fund in an amount required by Section 62.145(b)(2).
(d)  An eligible institution that becomes eligible to receive a distribution under Subsection (a)(1) remains eligible to receive a distribution under that subdivision in each subsequent state fiscal year.
Added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1004 (H.B. 1595), Sec. 17, eff. January 1, 2024.