83R10235 AED-D

By: Coleman H.B. No. 3732

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 102, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 102.057 to read as follows:

Sec. 102.057. RELATIONSHIP WITH CERTAIN NONPROFIT ENTITIES. An oversight committee member may not serve on the board of directors or other governing board of a nonprofit entity a primary purpose of which is to support the institute.

SECTION 2. Section 102.101(b), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The oversight committee is composed of the following nine [11] members:

(1) three members appointed by the governor;

(2) three members appointed by the lieutenant governor; and

(3) three members appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives[;

[(4) the comptroller or the comptroller's designee; and

[(5) the attorney general or the attorney general's designee].

SECTION 3. Section 102.104, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 102.104. OFFICERS. (a) The oversight committee shall elect [select] a presiding officer and assistant presiding officer from among its members every two years. The oversight committee may elect additional officers from among its members.

(b) The presiding officer and assistant presiding officer may not serve more than two years.

(c) The oversight committee shall:

(1) establish and approve duties and responsibilities for officers of the committee; and

(2) develop and implement policies that distinguish the responsibilities of the oversight committee and the committee's officers from the responsibilities of the chief executive officer and the employees of the institute.

SECTION 4. Section 102.251, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:

(a) The oversight committee shall issue rules regarding the procedure for awarding grants to an applicant under this chapter. The rules must include the following procedures:

(1) a research and prevention programs committee shall score [review] grant applications and make recommendations to the oversight committee and the executive director regarding the award of cancer research grants, including a prioritized list that ranks the grant applications in the order the committee determines applications should be funded; and

(2) the executive director shall submit to the oversight committee a list of grant applications that:

(A) includes documentation on the factors the executive director considered in making the grant recommendations;

(B) [that] is substantially based on the list submitted by the research and prevention programs committee under Subdivision (1); and

(C) [,] to the extent possible, gives priority to proposals that:

(i) [(A)] could lead to immediate or long-term medical and scientific breakthroughs in the area of cancer prevention or cures for cancer;

(ii) [(B)] strengthen and enhance fundamental science in cancer research;

(iii) [(C)] ensure a comprehensive coordinated approach to cancer research;

(iv) [(D)] are interdisciplinary or interinstitutional;

(v) [(E)] address federal or other major research sponsors' priorities in emerging scientific or technology fields in the area of cancer prevention or cures for cancer;

(vi) [(F)] are matched with funds available by a private or nonprofit entity and institution or institutions of higher education;

(vii) [(G)] are collaborative between any combination of private and nonprofit entities, public or private agencies or institutions in this state, and public or private institutions outside this state;

(viii) [(H)] have a demonstrable economic development benefit to this state;

(ix) [(I)] enhance research superiority at institutions of higher education in this state by creating new research superiority, attracting existing research superiority from institutions not located in this state and other research entities, or enhancing existing research superiority by attracting from outside this state additional researchers and resources; and

(x) [(J)] expedite innovation and commercialization, attract, create, or expand private sector entities that will drive a substantial increase in high-quality jobs, and increase higher education applied science or technology research capabilities.

(c) The executive director may not discuss a grant applicant recommendation with a member of the oversight committee unless the executive director has fulfilled the requirements of Subsection (a)(2).

(d) The institute may not award a grant to an applicant who has made a gift or grant to the institute or a nonprofit organization established to provide support to the institute.

SECTION 5. Section 102.252, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 102.252. FUNDING [OVERRIDING] RECOMMENDATIONS. Two-thirds of the members of the [The] oversight committee must vote to approve [follow] the funding recommendations of the executive director [in the order the executive director submits the applications to the oversight committee unless two-thirds of the members of the oversight committee vote to disregard a recommendation].

SECTION 6. Sections 102.255(c) and (d), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(c) The contract must:

(1) include terms relating to intellectual property rights consistent with the standards developed by the oversight committee under Section 102.256;

(2) require, in accordance with Subsection (d), the grant recipient to dedicate an amount of matching funds equal to one-half of the amount of the grant awarded; and

(3) specify:

(A) the amount of matching funds to be dedicated under Subdivision (2);

(B) the period in which the grant award must be spent;

(C) the name of the specific project to which matching funds are to be dedicated; and

(D) the specific deliverables of the research that is the subject of the grant proposal.

(d) Before the oversight committee may make for cancer research any grant of any proceeds of the bonds issued under Subchapter E, the recipient of the grant must have an amount of funds equal to one-half of the grant and dedicate those funds [dedicated] to the specific research that is the subject of the grant request.

SECTION 7. Section 102.262, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The records of the institute and of a nonprofit organization established to provide support to the institute shall, to the extent the records pertain specifically to any gift, grant, or other consideration provided by the organization to the institute, an employee of the institute, or a member of a committee of the institute, be made available to the public. A record that is available under this subsection is public information subject to Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 8. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.

(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a grant application submitted to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas on or after the effective date of this Act. A grant application submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was submitted, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

(c) Not later than January 1, 2014, employees, oversight committee members, and members of other committees of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas must comply with the changes in law made by this Act regarding the qualifications of the employees and members.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.