Governor Abbott Statement On Passage Of SB 632 And HB 26
Governor Greg Abbott today issued the following statement regarding the Texas Legislature’s passage of SB 632 (Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay) and HB 26 (Chen Button, R-Richardson), which together implement his higher education research emergency item by eliminating the Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) and creating the Governor’s University Research Initiative:
“At the outset of this session, I proposed creating the Governor’s University Research Initiative to harness our resources to empower Texas’ higher education institutions as integral participants in our economic advancement,” said Governor Abbott. “I commend the Texas Legislature for passing legislation that will allow us to make great strides toward my goal of elevating our higher education system, and ultimately creating better jobs and more opportunity for all Texans.”
The Governor’s University Research Initiative, proposed by Governor Abbott in January, will utilize a portion of the ETF’s unexpended balance to provide matching funds to help public institutions of higher education recruit prestigious, nationally-recognized researchers to their faculty. $40 million of the ETF’s unexpended balance was allocated for the initiative in HB 1.