Bill Text: CT SB00871 | 2017 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut Senate Bill 871 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Endowed Chair Investment Fund.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-19 - House Calendar Number 532 [SB00871 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2017-SB00871-Comm_Sub.html

General Assembly		*Substitute Bill No. 871*
*January Session, 2017*		_____SB00871HED___032117____

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ENDOWED CHAIR INVESTMENT FUND.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10a-20a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):

(a) The Office of Higher Education may establish and administer a fund to be known as the Endowed Chair Investment Fund. Within the limits of funds available, the office may deposit state funds for an endowed chair approved under subsection (c) of this section to an account within said fund in an amount not less than five hundred thousand dollars.

(b) [State funds deposited by the office to the Endowed Chair Investment Fund shall be invested by the State Treasurer.] For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, and each fiscal year thereafter, the office shall transfer state funds deposited in the Endowed Chair Investment Fund to a duly established foundation of The University of Connecticut or the Connecticut State University System, as appropriate, for each endowed chair approved by the office. Such duly established foundation may invest such state funds, and any interest income earned on such state funds shall be used to support the endowed chair. Such duly established foundations shall (1) maintain such state funds separately from the nonstate matching contributions, (2) hold such state funds as a permanently restricted asset for the endowed chair, and (3) manage such state funds in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. No interest income earned from the state funds in any fiscal year shall be used to support the endowed chair when, at the close of the fiscal year, the market value of such state funds is less than the principal value. Such duly established foundation shall restore the principal balance of such state funds to the original amount deposited in the subsequent fiscal year.

(c) The Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut and the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University System may apply for the establishment of an endowed chair to be supported by a grant of not less than five hundred thousand and not more than one million dollars from the Endowed Chair Investment Fund and a matching nonstate contribution. Applications for endowed chairs shall be accepted on October first and April first in each year in which funds are available. To apply for the state grant, the board of trustees shall notify the office that it has raised a matching nonstate contribution and that it is eligible for a grant of state funds to establish an endowed chair in a specific academic discipline. The board of trustees shall submit for the office's review and approval evidence that the chair will be established in a center of excellence, as defined in subsection (b) of section 10a-25h.

(d) Following approval of state funding for an endowed chair by the office, the board of trustees of the institution at which the chair is established shall select candidates to fill the endowed chair and shall develop a budget for expenditures associated with the chair.

[(e) Interest income earned under subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited to the Endowed Chair Investment Fund and, following establishment of an endowed chair under subsection (c) of this section shall be allocated, upon request, to The University of Connecticut or to the Connecticut State University System, as appropriate, to support the endowed chair. Nonstate matching contributions shall be held by a duly established foundation of The University of Connecticut or the Connecticut State University System and the interest on such contributions shall be used to support the endowed chair.]

[(f)] (e) The boards of trustees shall submit annual reports to the office concerning the management of an endowed chair. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, (1) expenditures, (2) the balance of state funds in each of the two previous fiscal years, (3) the balance of nonstate matching contributions in each of the two previous fiscal years, and (4) the amount of interest income earned for the state funds and nonstate matching contributions for the previous fiscal year.

Sec. 2. Section 10a-132a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2017):

The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall establish at The University of Connecticut Health Center an endowed chair in infectious diseases in accordance with the provisions of subsections (a), (b), (d) [,] and (e) [and (f)] of section 10a-20a, as amended by this act. The purpose of this endowed chair will be to support a senior faculty member in the school of medicine who will direct programs in teaching, research and patient care in the area of infectious diseases. This chair will provide support for an investigator or investigators who will coordinate research activities into the microbiologic, immunologic and clinical aspects of infectious diseases, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome, at The University of Connecticut Health Center and its affiliated institutions. The investigators will provide a link between ongoing basic science research in infectious diseases and the clinical application of the new knowledge that is being generated. This position will be a focal point for infectious disease research in Connecticut.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2017	10a-20a
Sec. 2	October 1, 2017	10a-132a

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In Section 1(b), "No interest income earned shall be allocated, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, from the state funds in any fiscal year when," was replaced with "No interest income earned from the state funds in any fiscal year shall be used to support the endowed chair when," for consistency with other provisions of the section, and "pursuant to subsection (b) of this section" was deleted for accuracy; and in Section 1(e), "nonmatching state" was changed to "nonstate matching" for consistency.