HCS SB 987 -- HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH

SPONSOR:  Stouffer (Hobbs)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Higher
Education by a vote of 10 to 0.

Currently, the maximum amount that the University of Missouri
Board of Curators may annually award for a grant for the
investigation of spinal cord injuries and other specific disease
processes is $50,000.  This substitute raises the annual maximum
to $250,000.

The substitute specifies that an entity in which an institution
of higher education holds an ownership or membership interest
will not be deemed to be a public governmental or quasi-public
governmental body as it relates to the Open Meetings and Records
Law, commonly known as the Sunshine Law, if the entity is engaged
primarily in activities involving current or prospective
commercialization of the skills or knowledge of the institution's
faculty or of the institution's research, research capabilities,
intellectual property, technology, or technological resources and
the institution maintains as an open record an annual report
identifying specified information.  Meetings, records, and votes
may be closed to the extent that they relate to records or
information submitted in connection with a proposal or agreement
to license intellectual property; perform sponsored research
involving students, faculty, or staff; or promote or pursue
economic development which contain sales projections or other
business plan, financial information, or trade secrets the
disclosure of which may endanger the competitiveness of a
business.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and
FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the amount of research that can
be completed under a $50,000 grant is negligible.  A comparable
figure for a grant from the National Institutes of Health is more
than $300,000.  Raising the grant amount does not raise the cost
of the program which is funded through court costs.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Stouffer; Armon Yanders,
University of Missouri Spinal Cord Injury Research Program; and
Washington University.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:15 pm