Honorable Kel Seliger, Chair, Senate Committee on Higher Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1188 by Seliger (Relating to a study on the feasibility of requiring certain researchers to make research papers available to the public.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Higher Education Coordinating Board (Board), in consultation with institutions of higher education, publishing companies, and other interested persons the Board deems appropriate, to study the feasibility of requiring researchers whose research is partially or entirely funded with either state or federal money to submit to a state agency an electronic copy of each original research paper by the researcher that is accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The study would include: time requirements for submitting a research paper; the manner for providing public access to the research paper; and identification of state agencies that have resources necessary to collect and coordinate the dissemination of the research papers. The Board would be required to submit a report of the results of the study to the Legislature not later than December 1, 2016. Any costs associated with the bill are not considered signficant and will be absorbed within current resources by the Board and institutions of higher education.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration, 306 Library & Archives Commission, 769 University of North Texas System Administration