SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Reported from the Special Committee on General Laws, April 15, 2004, with recommendation that the House Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 1671 Do Pass.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 196, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to life sciences research.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 196, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 196.1104, to read as follows:
196.1104. 1. Beginning in fiscal year 2007, the president of any public university in the state of Missouri shall be authorized to present to the life sciences research board on behalf of any campus within its system:
(1) A commitment from any budgetary sources other than the state, including but not limited to private, federal, earned income, or other sources, to pay to the public university a minimum of two million dollars as an endowment or one hundred thousand dollars a year for a minimum of twenty years toward the funding of an academic position within the health and life sciences fields, to be designated as an "Endowed Life Sciences Research Chair (ELSRC)"; and
(2) A commitment from the university, including any of its separate campuses, to pay a minimum of one hundred thousand dollars each year for the ELSRC position described in subdivision (1) of this subsection for the same length of payment term for which the budgetary sources other than the state have committed to under subdivision (1) of this subsection for the ELSRC position;
(3) Following the commitments in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection have been made, the life sciences research board shall review the commitments and subject to board approval shall pay to the university from the life sciences research trust fund one hundred thousand dollars each year for the same payment term committed to by budgetary sources other than the state under subdivision (1) of this subsection toward the funding of the ELSRC position. The life sciences research board shall also commit from the life sciences research fund a one-time disbursement of research and programmatic start-up moneys of five hundred thousand dollars over a two-year period beginning with the hiring of the ELSRC position. Such one-time disbursement shall include, and not be in addition to, the one hundred thousand dollar a year payment authorized under this subdivision.
The commitments in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be evidenced by a notarized letter of intent and the establishment of an escrow account containing at least ten percent of the total commitment of moneys by the nonstate entity or university under this subsection.
2. The life sciences research board shall not be required to provide the matching moneys described in subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section in an amount exceeding ten million dollars in any single fiscal year. If at any time the commitment of moneys in subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section are not fulfilled by either the nonstate entity or the university, the commitment of moneys under subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section by life sciences research board shall terminate.
3. When the president of any public university of this state receives the commitments from budgetary sources other than the state under subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of this section from a campus of the university, the life sciences research board or, if the funding commitment is made prior to the appointment of any member of the board, the president of the university shall take note thereon of the date and time of the receipt of such funding commitment and the life sciences research board shall provide its matching moneys under subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section for ELSRC positions in the order in which funding commitments are received.
4. Any public university of this state, or any other qualified entity that has a formal contract with such public university of this state for such purposes, shall hold the matching moneys provided by the life sciences research board for the funding of an ELSRC position and any life sciences research conducted under the direction of the ELSRC and shall not spend, loan, or encumber such matching moneys for any other purpose.
5. Within ninety days of receipt of the commitments in subsection 1 of this section and annually thereafter, any public or private entity may submit a proposal for life sciences research to be conducted under the direction of an ELSCR funded by this section. Commitments made under subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section may be made in conjunction with such entities desiring to submit proposals under this subsection. The life sciences research board shall establish criteria for selecting proposals competitively.
6. Any moneys withdrawn from the life sciences research trust fund but not expended under this section shall be distributed in accordance with the provisions of sections 196.1100 to 196.1130. All moneys that are derived from federal, state, or local taxes, from loans or grants of any federal, state, or local government or governmental authority, from loans or grants of a federal or state institution, instrumentality, or agency, from the proceeds of bonds issued by any public authority, from intergovernmental transfers, and from the adjudication or settlement of any claims or causes of action pursued by a federal, state, or local government or any agency thereof, shall be treated as if appropriated to the life sciences research board pursuant to sections 196.1100 to 196.1124, and shall be subject to the provisions of subsections 2 to 5 of section 196.1127.