Honorable Terry M. Wilson, Chair, House Committee on Higher Education
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB5339 by Wilson (relating to the establishment by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board of a grant program to support the study of regenerative agriculture at public institutions of higher education.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined due to the unavailability of data related to the number of institutions that would participate in the program, funding available for grant awards, and any grant amounts that would be awarded.
The bill would require the Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish and administer the Higher Education Regenerative Agriculture Grant Program to fund eligible institutions of higher education to: (1) conduct research to assess the benefits and risks of pesticide use; (2) study successful regenerative agriculture operations and identify practices and methods to support persons in Texas seeking to implement regenerative agriculture on their land; (3) develop innovative, evidence-based methods to support agricultural producers in bioremediation and other scientifically supported techniques that promote beneficial soil bacteria and microorganisms and increase crop yields; and (4) provide students, agricultural producers, and rural communities with regenerative agriculture-focused education and technical assistance programs founded upon transparent and objective research protocols.
The Higher Education Coordinating Board indicates that the agency would need at least 3.5 FTEs to administer the grant program, including a director, manager, program specialist, and 0.5 database administrator. The estimated cost for salaries, benefits, and other operating costs related to administering the program would be $348,557 in fiscal year 2026 and $328,557 in fiscal year 2027 and subsequent years. The remaining fiscal impact of the grant program cannot be determined but would be dependent on the number of institutions that would participate in the program, funding available for grant awards, and any grant amounts that would be awarded.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
592 Soil and Water Conservation Board, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 717 Texas Southern University, 719 Texas State Technical College System Administration, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 775 Texas Woman's University System, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration, 966 Howard College, 978 San Jacinto College