Section 10. (a) There shall be established and placed within the center a fund to be known as the Massachusetts Life Sciences Education Fund, hereinafter in this section referred to as the fund, to be held by the center separate and apart from its other funds. The fund shall be credited any appropriations, bond proceeds or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited thereto, such additional funds as are subject to the direction and control of the center, any pension funds, federal grants or loans, royalties or private investment capital which may properly be applied in furtherance of the objectives of the fund, any proceeds from the sale of qualified investments secured or held by the fund, any fees and charges imposed relative to the making of qualified investments as defined by the center, secured or held by the fund and any other monies which may be available to the center for the purposes of the fund from any other source or sources. Any revenues, deposits, receipts, or funds received through the receipt of royalties, interest, dividends, or the sale of equity instruments shall be deposited in the fund, and shall be available to the center for the purposes described in this section, without further appropriation. All available moneys in the fund that are unexpended at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year.
(b) The center shall invest and reinvest the fund and the income thereof only as follows: (1) making qualified grants pursuant to subsection (c); (2) investing any funds not required for immediate disbursement in the purchase of such securities as may be lawful investments for fiduciaries in the commonwealth; (3) paying binding obligations associated with such qualified investments which shall be secured by the fund as the same become payable; and (4) paying principal or interest on qualified investments secured by the fund or paying any redemption premium required to be paid when such qualified investments shall be redeemed prior to maturity; provided, however, that monies in the fund shall not be withdrawn at any time in such an amount as would reduce the amount of the fund to less than the minimum requirement thereof established by the center, except for the purpose of paying binding obligations associated with qualified investments which are secured by the fund as the same become payable.
(c) The fund shall be held and applied by the center to make qualified grants to vocational and technical schools for purchasing or leasing necessary equipment to train students in life sciences technology and research; provided, however, that the center shall make no such qualified grants unless: (1) said grant has been approved by a majority vote of the board; (2) the grant recipient shall be a vocational technical school; provided, however, that if funds remain after consideration of grant applications submitted by vocational technical schools, the center may make qualified grants to community colleges established by chapter 15A or any other general or special law; (3) the grant recipient has identified and properly trained instructors to use the equipment to be purchased or leased; and (4) said qualified grants conform with the rules approved by the board.
Said rules shall set the terms and conditions for grants which constitute qualified grants and shall set forth the terms, procedures, standards and conditions which the center shall employ to identify qualified applications, process applications, make investment determinations, safeguard the fund, advance the objective of increasing employment opportunities for the citizens of the commonwealth, oversee the progress of qualified grants, and secure the participation of other public instrumentalities, private institutions or the federal government in such qualified grants.
(d) The center may solicit investments by private institutions or investors in the activities of the fund and may reach agreements with such private institutions or investors regarding the terms of any such investments including, but not limited to, the rights of such investors to participate in the income or appropriation of the fund. To further the objective of securing investments by private institutions or investors in the activities of the fund as established in the preceding sentence, the center may develop a proposal relative to the creation of a separate investment entity which shall permit the commingling of the fund's resources with the maximum participation by such private institutions or investors in a manner consistent with the public purpose of the fund and under terms and conditions established to protect and preserve the assets of the fund.
(e) Copies of the approved rules, and any modifications thereto, shall be submitted to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate and shall forward the same to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies.
(f) Qualified grants and investment transactions made by the center pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not, except as specified in this chapter, be subject to the provisions of chapter 175, or any successor thereto, and shall be payable solely from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Education Fund, established by this section and shall not constitute a debt or pledge of the full faith and credit of the commonwealth, the center or any subdivision of the commonwealth.
(g) The center shall not make expenditure from or commitment of the assets of the fund including, but not limited to, the making of qualified investments secured by the fund, if following the making of said qualified investment, the amount of the fund shall be less than the minimum requirement established by the board.