In the Nov. 7 elections in Texas, voters approved 13 constitutional amendments on topics ranging from property taxes to state parks. 

One of the amendments, Proposition 5, ratified a new $3 billion endowment for higher education. The Texas University Fund (TUF) was created from HB 1595 with funds from the historic budget surplus in the 87th Legislature.

The TUF will provide performance-based funding, driven by research expenditures, to eligible institutions of higher education in Texas. As beneficiaries of the $30 billion endowment from the Permanent University Fund (PUF), the flagship institutions of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas are ineligible to take part in the TUF. 

Despite not directly benefitting Texas A&M financially, this new endowment can help protect the PUF. The last few years have seen increasing calls to redistribute the PUF to include more schools. We are hopeful that the TUF will reduce attempts to do this by providing a complementary funding source for schools not eligible for the PUF.

Four states in the U.S. — Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia — often receive extra attention on their elections. In contrast to the rest of the nation, these states hold their state legislative and gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years. 

In the Nov. 7 elections, two former students were reelected to the Virginia General Assembly. Virginia State Sen. Bryce Reeves ’89 was elected to District 28, and will begin his fourth term in Jan. 2024.

In the state's lower chamber, Delegate Don Scott ’87 was elected to his third term in the House of Delegates. First elected to the House in 2019, Del. Scott also became the minority leader of the House in 2022. With the Democratic Party taking control of the House after last week's elections, the Democrats have formally elected Scott as the speaker-designee.

Scott will be officially confirmed in this new position when the Virginia General Assembly convenes in Jan. 2024. He will become the first African-American speaker of the House of Delegates; as well as the first Aggie to serve as speaker of a state legislature outside of Texas!

Congratulations to Speaker-Designee Scott!

Individuals seeking one of the many offices up for election in 2024 are now able to file the paperwork to appear on the ballot. The filing period for Texas began on Nov. 11 and will continue through 6 p.m. on Dec. 11.

You can follow the full list of candidates filed, to date, for any of these offices at the Texas Secretary of State's Candidate Listing Information page.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 provides educational and financial resources to colleges and universities in the U.S., while defining regulations institutions must follow to receive federal funds. It also provides finanical aid to low-income students through programs like Pell Grants. The Act has not been fully reauthorized since 2008, and has run on temporary extensions since 2014. 

Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Education advanced a bill that could signal a movement to reauthorize the Higher Education Act through a "piecemeal" approach. This particular bill would tighten requirements for higher education institutes to report gifts from foreign actors.

Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said in an interview that additional legislation on higher education would be introduced in the 118th Congress. Read more here.