By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 487
73R2735 JRD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of the Texas Academy of Foreign
1-3 Languages and Culture.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter H to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER H. TEXAS ACADEMY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND CULTURE
1-8 Sec. 11.921. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-9 (1) "Academy" means the Texas Academy of Foreign
1-10 Languages and Culture.
1-11 (2) "Agency" means the Central Education Agency.
1-12 Sec. 11.922. ACADEMY. (a) The academy is established in
1-13 the agency.
1-14 (b) The State Board of Education, subject to the
1-15 availability of funds, may establish an office in the agency to
1-16 administer this subchapter.
1-17 (c) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
1-18 administer this subchapter.
1-19 (d) The agency may receive appropriations and may receive
1-20 gifts and grants to implement this subchapter.
1-21 (e) The purpose of the academy is to:
1-22 (1) advance the study of foreign languages and
1-23 cultures in Texas;
1-24 (2) advance educational and cultural exchange between
2-1 Texas and current and prospective trade partners;
2-2 (3) encourage the involvement of nonprofit and private
2-3 entities in international studies and in cultural and educational
2-4 exchanges; and
2-5 (4) access federal and private funds for international
2-6 education.
2-7 Sec. 11.923. CONTRACTS. (a) The academy shall accomplish
2-8 its purposes through contracts with a National Endowment for the
2-9 Humanities grant recipient for this state under 20 U.S.C. Section
2-10 956. The academy shall contract with a grant recipient to provide
2-11 on behalf of the academy:
2-12 (1) scholarships to selected college and university
2-13 juniors and seniors who are majoring in a foreign language and who
2-14 intend to pursue teaching careers;
2-15 (2) financial support to selected institutions and
2-16 organizations for cultural exchange programs between Texas and its
2-17 current and prospective trade partners that include photographic
2-18 exhibitions, film and video documentary programs, print resources,
2-19 conferences, and literary projects; and
2-20 (3) financial support to selected teachers and
2-21 scholars to conduct lectures and research projects in key foreign
2-22 countries and to cover reasonable and necessary domestic expenses
2-23 of teachers and scholars of other nations qualified to lecture and
2-24 conduct research in Texas.
2-25 (b) A contract with a grant recipient under Subsection (a)
2-26 of this section must provide that:
2-27 (1) the grant recipient shall award scholarships and
3-1 financial aid that uses academy money to persons and entities based
3-2 on a competitive program established by the grant recipient;
3-3 (2) the grant recipient shall establish controls
3-4 designed to ensure that persons and entities who receive
3-5 scholarships or financial support use the money for the intended
3-6 purpose;
3-7 (3) the grant recipient shall make regular reports to
3-8 the agency on its expenditures under the contract, including the
3-9 identity of persons and entities chosen by the grant recipient to
3-10 receive scholarships or financial support under the contract, and
3-11 on other information related to the contract that may be required
3-12 by the agency; and
3-13 (4) the transactions of the grant recipient under the
3-14 contract are subject to audit by the state auditor in accordance
3-15 with Chapter 321, Government Code.
3-16 (c) The grant recipient may also accomplish the purposes of
3-17 the subject matter of a contract under this section with money that
3-18 is not received under the contract, to the extent allowed under
3-19 this subchapter and federal law.
3-20 Sec. 11.924. COORDINATION. The academy shall coordinate its
3-21 programs with institutions of higher education that have
3-22 established academies for the humanities.
3-23 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding the authority granted by Section
3-24 11.922(d), Education Code, as added by this Act, general revenue
3-25 may not be appropriated for costs related to the implementation of
3-26 this Act during the fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 1993.
3-27 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-6 passage, and it is so enacted.