Section 15E. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to encourage private fundraising by the public institutions of higher education and to assist fundraising through a matching program to be known as the public higher education endowment incentive and capital outlay contribution program which shall not result in direct or indirect reductions in the commonwealth’s appropriations to the institutions for operations or for capital support.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 15A sec. 15E

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.

Subject to appropriation, the commonwealth shall contribute funds to each institution’s recognized foundation in an amount necessary to match private contributions in the current fiscal year to the institution’s or a foundation’s endowment or capital outlay program based on the following matching formula: subject to appropriation, the commonwealth’s contribution shall be equal to $1 for every $2 privately contributed to the university’s board of trustees or a foundation; $1 for every $2, or $1 dollar for such greater number of dollars as may be established by the board of higher education, privately contributed to each state university’s board of trustees or foundation; and $1 for every $2, or $1 for such greater number of dollars as may be established by the board of higher education, privately contributed to each community college’s board of trustees or foundation.

Private contributions to the endowment or capital outlay program for purposes of these matching grant programs shall be limited to donations to an endowment for academic purposes including, but not limited to, scholarships and endowed chairs or contributions to a capital outlay program in support of academic facility construction and maintenance approved by the appropriate board of trustees.

For each institution, the program shall be administered by its foundation, as defined in section 37, in accordance with procedures established by the board of trustees and filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on higher education, and the secretary of administration and finance no later than 30 days from the time of adoption. Any further amendments to the procedures shall also be filed within 30 days of adoption with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on higher education, and the secretary of administration and finance. The procedures shall include a method for each board of trustees to certify to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on higher education, and the secretary of administration and finance the actual amount received in private contributions to the endowment or capital outlay program in each fiscal year. The procedures shall also include safeguards for protecting the anonymity of donors who indicate their desire not to be identified. For the state university, the procedures shall also provide that the allocation of all matching funds from the commonwealth shall be subject to prior approval by the president of the university.

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