HBA-LJP S.B. 353 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 353 By: Ellis, Rodney Higher Education 4/17/2001 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Explosive job growth has left Texas unable to keep up with the rising demand for skilled technology workers. According to a 1998 report of the Governors Science and Technology Council, Texas currently has between 26,000 and 34,000 technology-related job vacancies. Senate Bill 353 establishes the Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium to increase the number of engineering and computer science graduates from private and public Texas institutions of higher education and to increase collaborative efforts between universities, engineering and computer science departments, and private technology companies. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTION 1 (Section 51.835, Education Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 353 amends the Education Code to establish programs under the Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium (consortium) to increase the number of engineering and computer science graduates from Texas institutions of higher education and to increase the collaborative efforts between private companies in Texas and appropriate entities of higher education (Sec. 51.831). The bill authorizes eligible institutions of engineering and computer science and certain private companies to establish and administer the consortium as a resource-sharing program operated within an eligible institution to fulfill specified goals and duties. The bill also provides that at the end of a prescribed period, the consortium may transfer its administrative functions to another eligible institution participating in the consortium (Sec. 51.833). The bill requires the consortium to transfer all stipulated money that the consortium is authorized to solicit and accept, except money retained to administer the consortium, to the comptroller of public accounts for deposit in the technology workforce development account. Money in the account may only be appropriated for the purpose of awarding a consortium-related grant. The bill requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to administer the account and adopt any rules necessary for its administration (Sec. 51.835). The bill authorizes the legislature to appropriate money from the undedicated portion of the general revenue fund for the purpose of awarding consortium-related grants, and sets forth provisions for the minimum amount of the appropriation (Sec. 51.836). The bill requires THECB to use the appropriated money to award grants on a competitive, peer-review basis to eligible engineering and computer science institutions, and to eligible private or independent engineering institutions to fund certain programs and goals. The bill authorizes THECB to award grants only to fund a new project or activity or the expansion or enhancement of an existing project or activity and prohibits THECB from awarding a grant to replace current funding for an existing project or activity. To receive a grant, the bill provides that an eligible private or independent institution must match the amount of the grant with an equal amount of contributions made by that institution for the project or activity for which the grant is awarded (Sec. 51.837). The bill requires the consortium to appoint an advisory committee that is subject to provisions for state agency advisory committees and that includes a representative from each consortium participant (Sec. 51.834). The bill also requires THECB to appoint an advisory committee to advise THECB on consortium-related grants and to appoint an advisory committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the grant program. The bill sets forth provisions for the composition and regulation of the committees. The bill also requires the grant program evaluation committee to report the results of its evaluation, including an evaluation of the level of participation in the grant program by eligible private or independent engineering institutions, to THECB not later than September 1 of each even-numbered year. The bill further requires THECB to report the evaluation results to the governor, consortium participants, and the legislature no later than October 31 of each even-numbered year (Secs. 51.838 and 51.840). The bill requires an eligible institution of higher education that is awarded a consortium-related grant to submit a report regarding the use of the grant, not later than September 1 of each year, to THECB. The bill requires THECB to provide the governor, the legislature and the consortium participants with a report consolidated from all of the institution reports not later than October 31 of each year (Sec. 51.839). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.