Early Voting Has Begun: Proposition 5 - Texas University Fund
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PROPOSITION 5
Proposition 5 is the constitutional amendment that provides money for research grants for Texas public universities.
Only two Texas institutions are represented in the U.S. News and World Report’s list of top 50 public universities, whereas California has nine. Those two schools, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, already benefit from a separate state-managed endowment, the Permanent University Fund. Schools like UH and Texas Tech have repeatedly tried and failed to gain access to the Permanent University Fund.
In 2009, Texas set up the National Research University Fund to provide research grants at other public universities. Currently, eight Texas universities qualify for research grants from this fund.
Proposition 5 proposes to replace the National Research University Fund with two new funds:
Texas University Fund
It would be created to support research grants at Texas State University, Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, and the University of North Texas. The legislature would provide $4 billion of initial funding for the Texas University Fund. The Legislature may provide $100 million per year of the interest and investment income from the Economic Stabilization Fund to support this fund. The Legislature can add eligible public universities to the fund only if additional money is provided.
National Research Support Fund
It would be created to support the University of Texas Arlington, University of Texas Dallas, University of Texas El Paso, and University of Texas San Antonio. Funding would have to be approved every two year by the Texas Legislature.
What TSU Alumni Should Know:
Neither of the 2 funds in the proposition include Texas Southern University.
While TSU can be added as a fund recipient later, the funds have qualifications to meet in order to be considered for the fund such as:
1. TSU will need to have at least at $45 million in restricted research expenditures annually.
2. TSU would need to maintain a $400 million dollar endowment annually (TSU’s endowment is currently around $80 million).
3. TSU would be required to award 200 PhD degrees annually.
Per the League of Women Voters of Houston’s Voters Guide, Proposition 5 continues the unequal treatment of public universities in Texas and would only provide stable research funding for only 4 additional public universities at this time. The funding through the National Research Support Fund is not stable and would still require legislative approval every 2 years. No additional universities will be added to the Texas University Fund unless the Legislature adds more money to the fund.
We want to ensure our alumni voters are equipped with information that affects Texas Southern University.
Early Vote
Early voting begins Monday October 23 through Friday, November 3. Registered and eligible voters may vote at ANY early voting location located in their county of residence.
Election Day
Election Day is Tuesday, November 7. Election Day voting hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at all polling places statewide.
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