By Place H.B. No. 2783
74R7108 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the conditional grant program of the Texas Department
1-3 of Transportation.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 56.141, Education Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and (5)
1-7 to read as follows:
1-8 (1) "Department" means the Texas <State> Department of
1-9 <Highways and Public> Transportation.
1-10 (3) "Eligible degree" means a baccalaureate degree
1-11 from an institution in a field of study that satisfies the
1-12 department's minimum education requirement for an eligible
1-13 profession.
1-14 (4) "Eligible profession" means the profession of
1-15 engineering or another profession identified by the department as
1-16 having a significant statistical underrepresentation of minorities
1-17 or women in the department's workforce.
1-18 (5) "Profession" means a state classified position for
1-19 which the minimum requirements include a baccalaureate degree.
1-20 SECTION 2. Section 56.142(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-21 read as follows:
1-22 (a) The department shall establish and administer a
1-23 conditional grant program under this subchapter to provide
1-24 financial assistance to <each> eligible women and minority students
2-1 who agree to <student who has exhibited in the student's secondary
2-2 school performance an aptitude for engineering and who intends to
2-3 become a civil engineer and> work for the department in an eligible
2-4 profession for the two academic years immediately following the
2-5 date of the student's receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering>
2-6 degree.
2-7 SECTION 3. Section 56.143, Education Code, is amended to
2-8 read as follows:
2-9 Sec. 56.143. ELIGIBLE STUDENT. To be eligible for a
2-10 conditional grant under this subchapter, a student must:
2-11 (1) complete and file with the department, on forms
2-12 prescribed by the department, a conditional grant application and a
2-13 declaration of intent to become a member of an eligible profession
2-14 <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two academic
2-15 years immediately following the date of the student's receipt of an
2-16 eligible <a civil engineering> degree;
2-17 (2) enroll in an institution;
2-18 (3) be a Texas resident, as defined by Texas Higher
2-19 Education Coordinating Board rule;
2-20 (4) be a minority, as defined by department rule, or a
2-21 woman; and
2-22 (5) <have exhibited in the student's secondary school
2-23 performance an aptitude for engineering as determined by department
2-24 rule; and>
2-25 <(6)> have complied with any other requirements
2-26 adopted by the department under this subchapter.
2-27 SECTION 4. Section 56.144, Education Code, is amended to
3-1 read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 56.144. AMOUNT AND PAYMENT OF CONDITIONAL GRANTS.
3-3 (a) The department by rule shall prescribe criteria for the
3-4 selection of applicants for grants under this subchapter. The
3-5 criteria must include consideration of a student's secondary school
3-6 scholastic record.
3-7 (b) Each semester the department shall distribute a
3-8 conditional grant to each <eligible> student selected under the
3-9 criteria adopted under Subsection (a) on receipt of <the student's
3-10 application and declaration,> an enrollment report from the
3-11 institution enrolling the student<,> and certification from the
3-12 institution of the amount of tuition and fees for the student.
3-13 (c) <(b)> The amount of a conditional grant is the sum of:
3-14 (1) the certified amount of tuition and fees for the
3-15 student; and
3-16 (2) a stipend for each whole calendar month in the
3-17 semester in an amount determined by the department based on
3-18 financial need.
3-19 (d) <(c)> The total amount of all conditional grants
3-20 distributed by the department may not exceed the amount
3-21 appropriated for the grant program under this subchapter.
3-22 (e) <(d)> The department shall proportionately reduce the
3-23 amount of each unpaid conditional grant if the amount appropriated
3-24 for the conditional grants is less than the estimated amount of all
3-25 unpaid conditional grants.
3-26 SECTION 5. Sections 56.145(a) and (b), Education Code, are
3-27 amended to read as follows:
4-1 Sec. 56.145. REPAYMENT OF CONDITIONAL GRANT. (a) The
4-2 department by rule may establish conditions under which a student
4-3 who has received a conditional grant may be required to repay all
4-4 or part of the grant because the student has withdrawn from or
4-5 dropped out of the student's institution or has otherwise failed to
4-6 maintain eligibility for the grant <A student who withdraws or
4-7 drops out of the institution in which the student is enrolled
4-8 during a semester must repay the conditional grant received for
4-9 that semester>.
4-10 (b) A student who does not become a member of an eligible
4-11 profession <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two
4-12 academic years immediately following the date of the student's
4-13 receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering> degree must repay all
4-14 conditional grants received by the student.
4-15 SECTION 6. Section 56.147, Education Code, is amended to
4-16 read as follows:
4-17 (a) The department may accept gifts and grants from any
4-18 public or private source for the conditional grant program under
4-19 this subchapter and may also use for that purpose available money
4-20 credited to the state highway fund.
4-21 (b) The department shall issue not less than $400,000
4-22 annually in conditional <Conditional> grants <issued> under this
4-23 subchapter <are payable> from gifts, grants, and <other> funds
4-24 described by Subsection (a) <appropriated from the State Department
4-25 of Highways and Public Transportation conditional grant account>.
4-26 SECTION 7. Section 156.146, Education Code, is repealed.
4-27 SECTION 8. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
5-1 applies to a grant made under Subchapter I, Chapter 56, Education
5-2 Code, on or after that date, except as provided by Subsection (b)
5-3 of this section.
5-4 (b) A student who received a grant under Subchapter I,
5-5 Chapter 56, Education Code, before the effective date of this Act
5-6 is eligible to receive grants under that subchapter as it existed
5-7 at the time the student received that grant.
5-8 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
5-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.