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House Bill 2457 |
House Author: Davis, John et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Jackson et al. |
House Bill 2457 amends Government Code provisions relating to the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas emerging technology fund. The bill sets a deadline by which the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house of representatives must approve a proposal by the governor to award money from either fund to avoid the proposal being considered disapproved, authorizes the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house to extend that deadline by submitting written notice to the governor, and establishes requirements relating to a Texas emerging technology fund grant agreement. The bill revises the required contents, recipients, and submission deadline of the governor's annual report on the Texas emerging technology fund and requires the office of the governor, to the maximum extent practicable, to annually perform a valuation of the equity positions taken by the governor, on behalf of Texas, in companies receiving awards under the fund and of other investments made by the governor, on behalf of Texas, in connection with an award under the fund. The bill establishes provisions relating to the Texas Emerging Technology Advisory Committee regarding membership appointments, member financial statements, and member terms, and lists the information that each entity recommended by the committee for an award of money from the fund is required to obtain and provide to the office of the governor. The bill revises confidentiality provisions regarding information collected in relation to an individual or entity being considered for, receiving, or having received an award from the fund and establishes a list of information collected by the governor's office, the committee, or the committee's advisory panels that is considered public information and may be disclosed under the state's open records law. The bill establishes provisions requiring each regional center of innovation and commercialization to keep and retain minutes of each meeting at which applications for awards under the fund are evaluated.
House Bill 2457 amends the Labor Code to prohibit money in the unemployment compensation fund from being transferred to the Texas Enterprise Fund or the Texas emerging technology fund and makes conforming changes.