1-1 By: Hilderbran (Senate Sponsor - Barrientos) H.B. No. 1479
1-2 Coleman
1-3 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 1995;
1-4 May 5, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
1-5 May 16, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-6 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 13, Nays 0; May 16, 1995,
1-7 sent to printer.)
1-8 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1479 By: Barrientos
1-9 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-10 AN ACT
1-11 relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
1-12 higher education and tuition credits at public and private
1-13 institutions of higher education for certain students.
1-14 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-15 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-16 amended by adding Sections 54.212 and 54.213 to read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 54.212. ONE-YEAR EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN AFDC STUDENTS.
1-18 A student is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees authorized
1-19 by this chapter for the first academic year in which the student
1-20 enrolls at an institution of higher education if the student:
1-21 (1) graduated from a public high school in this state;
1-22 (2) successfully completed the attendance requirements
1-23 under Section 21.032;
1-24 (3) during the student's last year of public high
1-25 school in this state, was a dependent child receiving financial
1-26 assistance under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, for not less
1-27 than six months;
1-28 (4) is younger than 22 years of age on the date of
1-29 enrollment;
1-30 (5) enrolls at the institution as an undergraduate
1-31 student not later than the first anniversary of the date of
1-32 graduation from a public high school in this state;
1-33 (6) has met the entrance examination requirements of
1-34 the institution before the date of enrollment; and
1-35 (7) is classified as a resident under Subchapter B.
1-36 Sec. 54.213. FUNDING OF EXEMPTIONS. (a) An institution of
1-37 higher education may fund tuition exemptions under Section 54.212
1-38 from local funds or from funds appropriated to the institution. An
1-39 institution of higher education is not required to provide tuition
1-40 exemptions beyond those funded through appropriations specifically
1-41 designated for this purpose.
1-42 (b) Savings to the foundation school fund that occur as a
1-43 result of the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program
1-44 created in Subchapter K, Chapter 56, and that are not required for
1-45 the funding of state tuition credits under that program shall be
1-46 used to provide tuition exemptions under Section 54.212. Payment
1-47 of funds under this subsection shall be made in the manner provided
1-48 by Section 56.207 for tuition credits under Subchapter K, Chapter
1-49 56.
1-50 SECTION 2. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-51 Subchapter K to read as follows:
1-52 SUBCHAPTER K. EARLY HIGH SCHOOL
1-53 GRADUATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
1-54 Sec. 56.201. PROGRAM NAME. The student financial assistance
1-55 program authorized by this subchapter is known as the Early High
1-56 School Graduation Scholarship program.
1-57 Sec. 56.202. PURPOSE. (a) The Early High School Graduation
1-58 Scholarship program is created to increase efficiency in the
1-59 Foundation School Program and to provide tuition assistance to an
1-60 eligible person to enable that person to attend a Texas public or
1-61 private institution of higher education.
1-62 (b) A portion of the savings to the Foundation School
1-63 Program that occur as a result of the program is dedicated to state
1-64 tuition credits provided by the program.
1-65 Sec. 56.203. ELIGIBLE PERSON. To be eligible for the Early
1-66 High School Graduation Scholarship program, a person must:
1-67 (1) have the written approval of at least one of the
1-68 person's parents or a person standing in parental relation to the
2-1 person;
2-2 (2) have successfully completed the requirements for a
2-3 public high school diploma in not more than 36 consecutive months
2-4 and graduated or be eligible for graduation from a Texas public
2-5 high school;
2-6 (3) have attended high school in this state only; and
2-7 (4) be a Texas resident as defined by Texas Higher
2-8 Education Coordinating Board rule.
2-9 Sec. 56.204. ENTITLEMENT; MATCHING CREDIT. (a) An eligible
2-10 person under the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program
2-11 is entitled to $1,000 in state tuition credits at a Texas public or
2-12 private institution of higher education.
2-13 (b) The use of a credit at a Texas private institution is
2-14 contingent on a private institution's agreement to match the state
2-15 tuition credit.
2-16 (c) A person eligible for a tuition credit under the tuition
2-17 credit program authorized by Rider 23, page III-9, Chapter 19, Acts
2-18 of the 72nd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1991 (General
2-19 Appropriations Act), who did not receive a credit under that
2-20 program is eligible for and entitled to $1,000 in state tuition
2-21 credits under this subchapter. This subsection expires September
2-22 1, 2005.
2-23 Sec. 56.205. ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE. The coordinating
2-24 board shall provide a certificate for state tuition credits to an
2-25 eligible person.
2-26 Sec. 56.206. USE OF TUITION CREDIT. (a) On enrollment of
2-27 an eligible person in an eligible institution of higher education,
2-28 the institution shall apply to the person's tuition charges for the
2-29 enrollment period an amount equal to the lesser of:
2-30 (1) the amount of the tuition credit available to the
2-31 person; or
2-32 (2) the person's actual tuition.
2-33 (b) A private institution of higher education shall apply
2-34 the state tuition credit and the matching credit required by
2-35 Section 56.204(b) in equal amounts.
2-36 (c) For each student using a state tuition credit under this
2-37 subchapter, the institution of higher education shall report to the
2-38 coordinating board:
2-39 (1) the student's name;
2-40 (2) the school district from which the student
2-41 graduated from high school; and
2-42 (3) the amount of the state tuition credit applied.
2-43 Sec. 56.207. PAYMENT OF TUITION CREDIT. (a) On receipt of
2-44 a report from an eligible institution of higher education under
2-45 Section 56.206(c), the coordinating board shall distribute to the
2-46 institution the amount of the state tuition credit applied by the
2-47 institution.
2-48 (b) At least once each year the coordinating board shall
2-49 submit a report to the commissioner of education that includes:
2-50 (1) the name of each student who used state tuition
2-51 credit under this subchapter during the period covered by the
2-52 report;
2-53 (2) the school district from which each student
2-54 graduated from high school; and
2-55 (3) the amount of the state tuition credit used by
2-56 each student during the period covered by the report.
2-57 (c) On receipt of a report from the coordinating board under
2-58 Subsection (b), the commissioner shall transfer to the coordinating
2-59 board, from funds appropriated for the Foundation School Program,
2-60 an amount sufficient to reimburse the coordinating board for
2-61 amounts disbursed in payment of state tuition credits during the
2-62 period covered by the report.
2-63 Sec. 56.208. FUNDING. (a) The Early High School Graduation
2-64 Scholarship program is financed under the Foundation School
2-65 Program. Funding for the state tuition credits is not subject to
2-66 the provisions of Sections 16.254(e)-(k).
2-67 (b) The commissioner of education shall reduce the total
2-68 annual amount of foundation school fund payments made to a school
2-69 district by an amount equal to F x A, where:
2-70 (1) "F" is the lesser of one or the quotient of the
3-1 district's local share for the preceding school year under Section
3-2 16.252 divided by the amount of money to which the district was
3-3 entitled under Subchapters C and D, Chapter 16, for the preceding
3-4 school year; and
3-5 (2) "A" is the amount of state tuition credits under
3-6 this subchapter applied by institutions of higher education on
3-7 behalf of eligible persons who graduated from the district that has
3-8 not been used to compute a previous reduction under this
3-9 subsection.
3-10 (c) A school district that does not receive foundation
3-11 school fund payments during a year in which the commissioner would
3-12 otherwise withhold money from the district under Subsection (b)
3-13 shall remit an amount equal to the amount that would be withheld
3-14 under Subsection (b) to the comptroller for deposit to the credit
3-15 of the foundation school fund.
3-16 (d) The commissioner and the foundation school fund budget
3-17 committee shall consider the costs of the program in estimating the
3-18 funds needed for Foundation School Program purposes.
3-19 Sec. 56.209. ADOPTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF RULES. (a) The
3-20 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter.
3-21 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute copies of all
3-22 rules adopted under this subchapter to each eligible institution of
3-23 higher education and to each school district.
3-24 SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with tuition and fees
3-25 collected for the fall semester of 1995.
3-26 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-28 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-29 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-30 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-31 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-32 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-33 * * * * *