S.B. No. 1154
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the conditional grant program of the Texas Department
1-2 of Transportation.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 56.141, Education Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subdivision (1) and by adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and
1-6 (5) to read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Department" means the Texas <State> Department of
1-8 <Highways and Public> Transportation.
1-9 (3) "Eligible degree" means a baccalaureate degree
1-10 from an institution in a field of study that satisfies the
1-11 department's minimum education requirement for an eligible
1-12 profession.
1-13 (4) "Eligible profession" means the profession of
1-14 engineering or another profession identified by the department as
1-15 having a significant statistical underrepresentation of minorities
1-16 or women in the department's workforce.
1-17 (5) "Profession" means a state classified position for
1-18 which the minimum requirements include a baccalaureate degree.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 56.142, Education Code,
1-20 is amended to read as follows:
1-21 (a) The department shall establish and administer a
1-22 conditional grant program under this subchapter to provide
1-23 financial assistance to <each> eligible women and minority students
1-24 who agree to <student who has exhibited in the student's secondary
2-1 school performance an aptitude for engineering and who intends to
2-2 become a civil engineer and> work for the department in an eligible
2-3 profession for the two academic years immediately following the
2-4 date of the student's receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering>
2-5 degree.
2-6 SECTION 3. Section 56.143, Education Code, is amended to
2-7 read as follows:
2-8 Sec. 56.143. ELIGIBLE STUDENT. To be eligible for a
2-9 conditional grant under this subchapter, a student must:
2-10 (1) complete and file with the department, on forms
2-11 prescribed by the department, a conditional grant application and a
2-12 declaration of intent to become a member of an eligible profession
2-13 <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two academic
2-14 years immediately following the date of the student's receipt of an
2-15 eligible <a civil engineering> degree;
2-16 (2) enroll in an institution;
2-17 (3) be a Texas resident, as defined by Texas Higher
2-18 Education Coordinating Board rule;
2-19 (4) be a minority, as defined by department rule, or a
2-20 woman; and
2-21 (5) <have exhibited in the student's secondary school
2-22 performance an aptitude for engineering as determined by department
2-23 rule; and>
2-24 <(6)> have complied with any other requirements
2-25 adopted by the department under this subchapter.
2-26 SECTION 4. Section 56.144, Education Code, is amended to
2-27 read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 56.144. AMOUNT AND PAYMENT OF CONDITIONAL GRANTS.
3-2 (a) The department by rule shall prescribe criteria for the
3-3 selection of applicants for grants under this subchapter. The
3-4 criteria must include consideration of a student's secondary school
3-5 scholastic record.
3-6 (b) Each semester the department shall distribute a
3-7 conditional grant to each <eligible> student selected under the
3-8 criteria adopted under Subsection (a) on receipt of <the student's
3-9 application and declaration,> an enrollment report from the
3-10 institution enrolling the student<,> and certification from the
3-11 institution of the amount of tuition and fees for the student.
3-12 (c) <(b)> The amount of a conditional grant is the sum of:
3-13 (1) the certified amount of tuition and fees for the
3-14 student; and
3-15 (2) a stipend for each whole calendar month in the
3-16 semester in an amount determined by the department based on
3-17 financial need.
3-18 (d) <(c)> The total amount of all conditional grants
3-19 distributed by the department may not exceed the amount
3-20 appropriated for the grant program under this subchapter.
3-21 (e) <(d)> The department shall proportionately reduce the
3-22 amount of each unpaid conditional grant if the amount appropriated
3-23 for the conditional grants is less than the estimated amount of all
3-24 unpaid conditional grants.
3-25 SECTION 5. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 56.145,
3-26 Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-27 (a) The department by rule may establish conditions under
4-1 which a student who has received a conditional grant may be
4-2 required to repay all or part of the grant because the student has
4-3 withdrawn from or dropped out of the student's institution or has
4-4 otherwise failed to maintain eligibility for the grant <A student
4-5 who withdraws or drops out of the institution in which the student
4-6 is enrolled during a semester must repay the conditional grant
4-7 received for that semester>.
4-8 (b) A student who does not become a member of an eligible
4-9 profession <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two
4-10 academic years immediately following the date of the student's
4-11 receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering> degree must repay all
4-12 conditional grants received by the student.
4-13 SECTION 6. Section 56.147, Education Code, is amended to
4-14 read as follows:
4-15 Sec. 56.147. FUNDING. (a) The department may accept gifts
4-16 and grants from any public or private source for the conditional
4-17 grant program under this subchapter and may also use for that
4-18 purpose available money credited to the state highway fund.
4-19 (b) The department shall issue not less than $400,000
4-20 annually in conditional <Conditional> grants <issued> under this
4-21 subchapter <are payable> from gifts, grants, and <other> funds
4-22 described by Subsection (a) <appropriated from the State Department
4-23 of Highways and Public Transportation conditional grant account>.
4-24 SECTION 7. Section 56.146, Education Code, is repealed.
4-25 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
4-26 applies to a grant made under Subchapter I, Chapter 56, Education
4-27 Code, on or after that date.
5-1 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
5-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.