1-1 By: Ratliff S.B. No. 1154
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 1995; March 15, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 5, 1995,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 5, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1154 By: Ratliff
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the conditional grant program of the Texas Department
1-10 of Transportation.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 56.141, Education Code, is amended by
1-13 amending Subdivision (1) and by adding Subdivisions (3), (4), and
1-14 (5) to read as follows:
1-15 (1) "Department" means the Texas <State> Department of
1-16 <Highways and Public> Transportation.
1-17 (3) "Eligible degree" means a baccalaureate degree
1-18 from an institution in a field of study that satisfies the
1-19 department's minimum education requirement for an eligible
1-20 profession.
1-21 (4) "Eligible profession" means the profession of
1-22 engineering or another profession identified by the department as
1-23 having a significant statistical underrepresentation of minorities
1-24 or women in the department's workforce.
1-25 (5) "Profession" means a state classified position for
1-26 which the minimum requirements include a baccalaureate degree.
1-27 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 56.142, Education Code,
1-28 is amended to read as follows:
1-29 (a) The department shall establish and administer a
1-30 conditional grant program under this subchapter to provide
1-31 financial assistance to <each> eligible women and minority students
1-32 who agree to <student who has exhibited in the student's secondary
1-33 school performance an aptitude for engineering and who intends to
1-34 become a civil engineer and> work for the department in an eligible
1-35 profession for the two academic years immediately following the
1-36 date of the student's receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering>
1-37 degree.
1-38 SECTION 3. Section 56.143, Education Code, is amended to
1-39 read as follows:
1-40 Sec. 56.143. ELIGIBLE STUDENT. To be eligible for a
1-41 conditional grant under this subchapter, a student must:
1-42 (1) complete and file with the department, on forms
1-43 prescribed by the department, a conditional grant application and a
1-44 declaration of intent to become a member of an eligible profession
1-45 <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two academic
1-46 years immediately following the date of the student's receipt of an
1-47 eligible <a civil engineering> degree;
1-48 (2) enroll in an institution;
1-49 (3) be a Texas resident, as defined by Texas Higher
1-50 Education Coordinating Board rule;
1-51 (4) be a minority, as defined by department rule, or a
1-52 woman; and
1-53 (5) <have exhibited in the student's secondary school
1-54 performance an aptitude for engineering as determined by department
1-55 rule; and>
1-56 <(6)> have complied with any other requirements
1-57 adopted by the department under this subchapter.
1-58 SECTION 4. Section 56.144, Education Code, is amended to
1-59 read as follows:
1-60 Sec. 56.144. AMOUNT AND PAYMENT OF CONDITIONAL GRANTS.
1-61 (a) The department by rule shall prescribe criteria for the
1-62 selection of applicants for grants under this subchapter. The
1-63 criteria must include consideration of a student's secondary school
1-64 scholastic record.
1-65 (b) Each semester the department shall distribute a
1-66 conditional grant to each <eligible> student selected under the
1-67 criteria adopted under Subsection (a) on receipt of <the student's
1-68 application and declaration,> an enrollment report from the
2-1 institution enrolling the student<,> and certification from the
2-2 institution of the amount of tuition and fees for the student.
2-3 (c) <(b)> The amount of a conditional grant is the sum of:
2-4 (1) the certified amount of tuition and fees for the
2-5 student; and
2-6 (2) a stipend for each whole calendar month in the
2-7 semester in an amount determined by the department based on
2-8 financial need.
2-9 (d) <(c)> The total amount of all conditional grants
2-10 distributed by the department may not exceed the amount
2-11 appropriated for the grant program under this subchapter.
2-12 (e) <(d)> The department shall proportionately reduce the
2-13 amount of each unpaid conditional grant if the amount appropriated
2-14 for the conditional grants is less than the estimated amount of all
2-15 unpaid conditional grants.
2-16 SECTION 5. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 56.145,
2-17 Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-18 (a) The department by rule may establish conditions under
2-19 which a student who has received a conditional grant may be
2-20 required to repay all or part of the grant because the student has
2-21 withdrawn from or dropped out of the student's institution or has
2-22 otherwise failed to maintain eligibility for the grant <A student
2-23 who withdraws or drops out of the institution in which the student
2-24 is enrolled during a semester must repay the conditional grant
2-25 received for that semester>.
2-26 (b) A student who does not become a member of an eligible
2-27 profession <civil engineer> and work for the department for the two
2-28 academic years immediately following the date of the student's
2-29 receipt of an eligible <a civil engineering> degree must repay all
2-30 conditional grants received by the student.
2-31 SECTION 6. Section 56.147, Education Code, is amended to
2-32 read as follows:
2-33 Sec. 56.147. FUNDING. (a) The department may accept gifts
2-34 and grants from any public or private source for the conditional
2-35 grant program under this subchapter and may also use for that
2-36 purpose available money credited to the state highway fund.
2-37 (b) The department shall issue not less than $400,000
2-38 annually in conditional <Conditional> grants <issued> under this
2-39 subchapter <are payable> from gifts, grants, and <other> funds
2-40 described by Subsection (a) <appropriated from the State Department
2-41 of Highways and Public Transportation conditional grant account>.
2-42 SECTION 7. Section 56.146, Education Code, is repealed.
2-43 SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-44 applies to a grant made under Subchapter I, Chapter 56, Education
2-45 Code, on or after that date.
2-46 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
2-47 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-48 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-49 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-50 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-51 * * * * *