By: Kolkhorst, et al.  S.B. No. 25
         (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2023; March 13, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
  March 27, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
  Nays 0; March 27, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to support for nursing-related postsecondary education,
  including scholarships to nursing students, loan repayment
  assistance to nurses and nursing faculty, and grants to nursing
  education programs.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 61.655, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 61.655.  PURPOSE; ELIGIBILITY. (a) A scholarship
  program[, matching fund program,] or loan repayment program
  established under this subchapter shall be established and
  administered in a manner that the board determines best promotes
  the health care and educational needs of this state.
         (b)  The board may establish multiple categories of persons
  to receive scholarships[, matching funds,] and loan repayments.
  The board may include faculty from professional nursing programs
  with master's degrees or doctorates among the categories of persons
  authorized to receive loan repayments.
         (c)  Each year funds are available, the board shall establish
  the categories of persons eligible to receive scholarships[,
  matching funds,] and loan repayments and the criteria for selecting
  persons to be assisted under each category. The criteria may
  include:
               (1)  scholastic ability and performance;
               (2)  financial need;
               (3)  the geographical area in which the person is
  likely to practice;
               (4)  whether the person receives Temporary Assistance
  for Needy Families [Aid to Families with Dependent Children] or
  participates in another public welfare program;
               (5)  employment by a state agency;
               (6)  employment on a nursing school faculty or a
  person's intention to seek employment on a nursing school faculty;
               (7)  whether the person is practicing in a geographical
  area, a practice setting, or an area of practice with an acute
  nursing shortage or is likely to practice in such an area;
               (8)  the type of certificate or academic degree held or
  pursued; or
               (9)  any additional factors the board considers
  relevant to promoting the health care and educational needs of the
  state.
         SECTION 2.  Section 61.656(d), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  The board shall distribute information about the
  scholarship program[, matching fund program,] and loan repayment
  program established under this subchapter to:
               (1)  employers of registered nurses or licensed
  vocational nurses;
               (2)  associations of employers;
               (3)  schools and educational programs for registered
  nurses or licensed vocational nurses; and
               (4)  professional associations of registered nurses or
  licensed vocational nurses.
         SECTION 3.  Section 61.658(b), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The board may structure the scholarship program[, the
  matching fund program,] and the loan repayment program established
  under this subchapter to secure funds available under federal
  matching programs.
         SECTION 4.  Section 61.9822, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 61.9822.  ELIGIBILITY.  To be eligible to receive loan
  repayment assistance under this subchapter, a nurse must:
               (1)  apply to the board;
               (2)  at the time of application for repayment
  assistance have been employed part-time or full-time for at least
  one year as, and be currently employed part-time or full-time as, a
  faculty member of a nursing degree program at an institution of
  higher education or a private or independent institution of higher
  education; and
               (3)  comply with any additional requirements adopted by
  board rule.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 61.9823(a) and (b), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  On qualifying for loan repayment assistance under this
  subchapter, a nurse may receive repayment assistance for each year
  of part-time or full-time employment as a faculty member of a
  nursing degree program at an institution of higher education or
  private or independent institution of higher education, not to
  exceed five years.
         (b)  The board by rule shall determine the maximum amount of
  loan repayment assistance received by a nurse under this subchapter
  [may not exceed $7,000] in any one year.  The board shall base the
  amount of loan repayment assistance received by a nurse for
  part-time employment on the proportion of the number of hours
  worked by the nurse to the number of hours worked by a full-time
  nurse.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 63.202(f) and (g), Education Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (f)  Notwithstanding the limitation provided by Subsection
  (b), grants awarded under Subsection (c) for the state fiscal
  biennium ending on August 31, 2025 [2021], and the fiscal biennium
  ending on August 31, 2027 [2023], by the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board shall be awarded to programs preparing students
  for initial licensure as registered nurses or programs preparing
  qualified faculty members with a master's or doctoral degree for
  the program, including programs at two-year institutions of higher
  education, four-year general academic teaching institutions,
  health science centers, and independent or private institutions of
  higher education, or to the nursing resource section established
  under Section 105.002(b), Health and Safety Code.  In awarding
  grants under this subsection, the coordinating board may:
               (1)  give priority to institutions proposing to address
  the shortage of registered nurses by promoting innovation in
  education, recruitment, and retention of nursing students and
  qualified faculty;
               (2)  award grants on a competitive basis;
               (3)  consider the availability of matching funds; and
               (4)  fund a study by the nursing resource section to
  evaluate the competencies of clinical judgment and behaviors that
  professional nursing students should possess at the time of
  graduation.
         (g)  Subsection (f) and this subsection expire September 1,
  2027 [2023].
         SECTION 7.  The following provisions of the Education Code
  are repealed:
               (1)  Sections 61.653 and 61.657; and
               (2)  Section 61.656(c).
         SECTION 8.  (a)  As soon as practicable after the effective
  date of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
  shall adopt rules necessary to administer the changes in law made by
  this Act.
         (b)  The changes in law made by this Act apply beginning with
  loan repayment assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61,
  Education Code, for the 2024-2025 academic year. Loan repayment
  assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code,
  for an academic year before the 2024-2025 academic year is governed
  by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
  Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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