Project expands funding for public higher education

A step forward on the path to expanding financing for public higher education. This is how the bill for this purpose, approved this Wednesday (8), by the Science and Technology Commission can be defined. Technology (CCT) of the Federal Senate, authored by Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF), and rapporteur by Senator Damares Alves (Republicans-DF).

According to the decision, PL 3,817/2019 amends Law 8,958, of 1994, with a view to determining that foundations supporting scientific and technological and higher education institutions share part of their revenue with institutions that support. Another guideline of the project would be the exemption from bidding for the contracting of services/products, through agreements or contracts between supporting foundations and the supported institutions.

In addition to these changes, the legal matter also alters the Education Guidelines and Bases Law (LDB) – Law 9,394, of 1996 – which authorizes the Union to finance institutions state, district and municipal higher education institutions to increase the supply of vacancies, raise the quality of courses and programs, as well as create new establishments teaching.

With regard to the Patrimonial Funds Law (Law 13,800, of 2019), the PL approved by the CCT proposes the inclusion, among the revenues of these funds, of resources arising from the exploitation of patents and transfers by support foundations and the assignment of rights, as well as allowing organizations asset fund managers the rental, sale or onerous assignment of properties (transfer of ownership of a property owned by a public body, through payment). Another determination would be to allow the non-onerous transfer of surface rights (right to build and/or use another owner's property) to the heritage funds.

In Senator Leila's assessment, her proposal aims to create effective conditions for the exercise of university autonomy, as provided for in the Constitution federal government, in order to expand the possibilities of obtaining revenue, whether through heritage funds, support foundations or exploitation of the heritage of each university.

For the rapporteur, in turn, “the creation of these additional opportunities for generating resources is of great importance for the development national scientific and technological, especially in the current moment of shortage of public resources that educational institutions and search".

Among the modifications introduced by the rapporteur to the project, the highlight is the removal of the obligation for scientific and technological and higher education companies share revenue from patents or utility models with development agencies, responsible for financing of its development, such as the CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) and Finep (Financier of Studies and projects).

“Such compulsory revenue sharing would represent a reduction in what could be received by inventor researchers, by universities or federal research institutes or their foundations”, he added Damares.