There are two major components: instruction and operations, and infrastructure support. The board’s recommendations are presented to the Legislative Budget Board on June 1. On even years, the Higher Education Coordinating Board calculates a formula to determine how to distribute funds to the state’s higher education institutions. Advocates will be arguing that said surplus should be invested in higher education. In 2011, higher education across the state suffered substantial cuts to base funding levels that haven’t been restored-now we’re entering this legislative session with a large budget surplus. UT Austin only receives 12 percent of the total AUF, which is allocated to specific resources and makes up 9 percent of UT Austin’s $3 billion budget-about $250 million. One-third of the AUF is required to go to the Texas A&M University System, while the UT System receives the other two-thirds. From the PUF comes the Available University Fund (AUF). The revenue from leasing that land to oil and gas companies makes up the Permanent University Fund (PUF). But half of that endowment comes from land leases on 2.1 million acres in West Texas, which the Texas Constitution set aside to support The University of Texas and Texas A&M systems of higher education in 1876. In 2021, the UT System had the second-largest endowment in the country at nearly $43 billion-second only to Harvard. The UT System mainly receives funding through the Permanent University Fund. Money from the state comes from a few different funds, but when adjusted for inflation, UT Austin has seen a more than 40 percent decrease in state funding since 1984. University funding is almost always an issue up for debate each legislative session, and this time should be no different. UT Austin also received $56.1 million to renovate the Microelectronics Center at the Pickle Research campus and $56.1 million to renovate the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building through a bill issuing revenue bonds to fund capital projects at public institutions of higher education. In a bill appropriating COVID-19 relief funds, UT Austin received $3 million to rebuild dorms at the Marine Science Institute destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, and the Briscoe Garner Museum fund reduction from last session-$235,000-was restored. But nonetheless, bills were passed, including one requiring public schools to restrict athletic competitions based on biological sex and another limiting how schools teach certain topics as “critical race theory” debates reached a zenith. Still solidly in the throes of the pandemic, the legislature looked a little different from past sessions. Here’s what UT Advocates have their eyes on as we watch the session unfold this year. But throughout the session, many alumni will make the case to the Legislature that UT Austin should receive its slice of the pie. The Texas Exes and their Aggie counterparts, the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M, will gather for the biennial Orange & Maroon Legislative Day-when Longhorns and Aggies come together to advocate for their universities on Feb. Debates on education are sure to continue as fraught conversations around COVID-19 policies, lesson plans, book bans, and athletics have carried on since the last session ended. This year, lawmakers convene at the Capitol for the 88th time. And every other year? The legislature comes together to make decisions for Texans across the state-including ones that affect the Forty Acres. What to Watch During the 2023 Texas Legislative SessionĮvery new year brings another semester, another bluebonnet season, and new hopes for Longhorn football.
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