85R6594 CLG-F
 
  By: Button H.B. No. 3245
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the definition of distinguished researcher for purposes
  of the governor's university research initiative.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 62.161(1), Education Code, as added by
  Chapters 323 (S.B. 632) and 915 (H.B. 26), Acts of the 84th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:
               (1)  "Distinguished researcher" means a researcher who
  is:
                     (A)  a Nobel laureate or the recipient of an
  equivalent honor; [or]
                     (B)  a member of a national honorific society,
  such as the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of
  Engineering, or the National Academy of Medicine, formerly known as
  the Institute of Medicine, or an equivalent honorific organization;
  or
                     (C)  the principal investigator for a research
  project or other research for which expenditures of at least $1
  million have been made for each of the preceding three years.
         SECTION 2.  Section 62.161(2), Education Code, as added by
  Chapter 448 (H.B. 7), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:
               (2)  "Distinguished researcher" means a researcher who
  is:
                     (A)  a Nobel laureate or the recipient of an
  equivalent honor; [or]
                     (B)  a member of a national honorific society,
  such as the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of
  Engineering, or the National Academy of Medicine, formerly known as
  the Institute of Medicine, or an equivalent honorific organization;
  or
                     (C)  the principal investigator for a research
  project or other research for which expenditures of at least $1
  million have been made for each of the preceding three years.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  an application for receipt of a matching grant from the governor's
  university research initiative that is submitted on or after the
  effective date of this Act. An application for receipt of a
  matching grant from the governor's university research initiative
  that is submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed
  by the law in effect on the date the application is submitted, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.