From the link:
While proponents of this say that it is an effort to increase funding for our Universities that will result in a higher profile and thus greater academic competitiveness, this is really about providing a limitation on other universities around the state so that an elite handful can have more money to play with.
Technically, this proposal wouldn’t raise taxes, as it is money that’s already been set aside for education, however we believe, as do others, that this will simply result in and encourage further reliance on the taxpayers, rather than causing universities to seek additional private funding.
The other argument being used that this would somehow elevate the profile of these “research universities” and thus provide some additional benefits to the students who attend them, is completely unsupportable with any amount of research. Most universities simply act like “compulsive gamblers and exiled royalty; there is never enough money to satisfy their desires.” That quote is from former Harvard president Derek Bok.
Harvard president Derek Bok knows nothing about the Texas university system. This is about the Texas Permanent University Fund (a.k.a “the Puff”). Those universities that do not get distributions from the fund have to go to the legislature every two years for funding. The lucky three that are supported by the fund get hundreds of millions from the fund without any need for taxation.