75R15601 CAG-D
By Sibley S.B. No. 576
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 576:
By Rangel C.S.S.B. No. 576
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of the Texas New Horizons Scholarship
1-3 Trust Fund to exempt worthy high school graduates from tuition and
1-4 fees at public institutions of higher education.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 54.216 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 54.216. TEXAS NEW HORIZONS SCHOLARSHIPS. (a) The
1-9 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall issue scholarships,
1-10 in a number to be determined by the coordinating board after
1-11 reviewing the total amount of money available to the Texas New
1-12 Horizons Scholarship Trust Fund, to qualified students. A
1-13 scholarship may be used by the recipient to attend an eligible
1-14 public institution of higher education. The purpose of the
1-15 scholarship is to pay for the recipient's tuition and required
1-16 fees.
1-17 (b) The coordinating board shall adopt rules as necessary
1-18 for the administration of this section, including rules relating to
1-19 the establishment of the scholarships, the criteria for awarding a
1-20 scholarship, the determination of eligibility, and the total
1-21 scholarship amount that an eligible student may receive.
1-22 (c) To be eligible for a scholarship under this section, a
1-23 person must:
1-24 (1) be a Texas resident, as defined by coordinating
2-1 board rules;
2-2 (2) be enrolled as an undergraduate student at an
2-3 eligible institution for at least one-half of a full course load;
2-4 (3) meet minimum academic standards;
2-5 (4) establish financial need;
2-6 (5) satisfy one or more of the eligibility
2-7 requirements listed in Subsection (d); and
2-8 (6) comply with any other requirements adopted by the
2-9 coordinating board under this section.
2-10 (d) In addition to the requirements of Subsection (c),
2-11 eligibility for a scholarship shall be based on the following
2-12 factors:
2-13 (1) the socioeconomic background of the student,
2-14 including the percentage by which the student's family is above or
2-15 below any recognized measure of poverty, the student's household
2-16 income, and the educational level of the student's parents;
2-17 (2) whether the student would be the first generation
2-18 of the student's family to attend or graduate from an institution
2-19 of higher education;
2-20 (3) whether the wealth per student of the school
2-21 district the student attended was below the average wealth per
2-22 student of school districts as determined in Chapter 41;
2-23 (4) whether the student has demonstrated
2-24 responsibility in the student's work in school, with the student's
2-25 family, and within the student's community, including whether the
2-26 student has been employed while in high school or whether the
2-27 student has performed substantial child-care duties or has helped
3-1 to raise children;
3-2 (5) whether the student is a resident of an urban area
3-3 or a rural area or a resident of a central city or a suburban area
3-4 in the state;
3-5 (6) the student's performance on standardized tests;
3-6 and
3-7 (7) the student's performance on standardized tests in
3-8 comparison with that of other students from similar socioeconomic
3-9 backgrounds.
3-10 (e) A person is not eligible to receive a scholarship under
3-11 this section if the person:
3-12 (1) has been granted a baccalaureate degree; or
3-13 (2) has received an athletic scholarship.
3-14 (f) To be eligible to participate in the scholarship
3-15 program, an eligible institution must match any state funds with
3-16 the institution's local funds.
3-17 (g) Before the date applications for scholarships are first
3-18 considered under this section, the coordinating board shall
3-19 distribute to each eligible institution the eligibility criteria
3-20 and a description of the weight given to each factor and the role
3-21 each factor plays in the decision to award scholarships.
3-22 (h) The coordinating board shall award the scholarships from
3-23 the amount available in the Texas New Horizons Scholarship Trust
3-24 Fund. The trust fund is established outside the treasury but is
3-25 held in trust by the comptroller. Money in the trust fund may be
3-26 spent without appropriation and only to fund the program. Interest
3-27 and income from the assets of the trust fund shall be credited to
4-1 and deposited in the trust fund. In each state fiscal year the
4-2 coordinating board may spend from the trust fund to cover the costs
4-3 of administering this section an amount not to exceed 2.5 percent
4-4 of the total amount of money deposited into the trust fund in that
4-5 fiscal year, excluding matching funds transferred to the trust fund
4-6 under Subsection (f).
4-7 (i) Each eligible institution shall transfer local funds
4-8 provided by the institution under Subsection (f) to the Texas New
4-9 Horizons Scholarship Trust Fund. The coordinating board shall use
4-10 the funds transferred by an institution to provide scholarships to
4-11 students attending that institution.
4-12 (j) The coordinating board may accept gifts and grants from
4-13 any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter,
4-14 and may deposit a gift or grant to the credit of the trust fund.
4-15 (k) The legislature may appropriate money to the trust fund.
4-16 SECTION 2. Section 74.3012, Property Code, is amended to
4-17 read as follows:
4-18 Sec. 74.3012. DELIVERY OF MONEY TO TEXAS NEW HORIZONS
4-19 SCHOLARSHIP TRUST [URBAN SCHOLARSHIP] FUND. (a) The comptroller
4-20 shall pay any portion of the total amount delivered by local
4-21 exchange companies under this chapter in excess of $2 million in
4-22 any state fiscal year to the Texas New Horizons Scholarship Trust
4-23 Fund established under Section 54.216, Education Code
4-24 [Notwithstanding and in addition to any other provision of this
4-25 chapter or other law, a local exchange company may deliver reported
4-26 money to a scholarship fund for urban students instead of
4-27 delivering the money to the state treasurer as prescribed by
5-1 Section 74.301].
5-2 (b) [A local exchange company may deliver the money under
5-3 this section only to a scholarship fund established by one or more
5-4 local exchange companies in this state to enable needy students
5-5 from urban areas to attend college, technical school, or another
5-6 postsecondary educational institution.]
5-7 [(c) A local exchange company shall file with the state
5-8 treasurer a verification of money delivered under this section that
5-9 complies with Section 74.302.]
5-10 [(d) A claim for money delivered to a scholarship fund under
5-11 this section must be filed with the local exchange company that
5-12 delivered the money. The local exchange company shall forward the
5-13 claim to the administrator of the scholarship fund to which the
5-14 money was delivered. The scholarship fund shall pay the claim if
5-15 the fund determines in good faith that the claim is valid. A
5-16 person aggrieved by a claim decision may file a suit against the
5-17 fund in a district court in the county in which the administrator
5-18 of the scholarship fund is located in accordance with Section
5-19 74.506.]
5-20 [(e) The state treasurer shall prescribe forms and
5-21 procedures governing this section, including forms and procedures
5-22 relating to:]
5-23 [(1) notice of presumed abandoned property;]
5-24 [(2) delivery of reported money to a scholarship fund;
5-25 and]
5-26 [(3) filing of a claim.]
5-27 [(f)] In this section, "local exchange company" means a
6-1 telecommunications utility certificated to provide local exchange
6-2 telephone service within the state and that has 50,000 or more
6-3 access lines in service in this state and is not a telephone
6-4 cooperative.
6-5 [(g) During the 1995-1996 fiscal year, the total amount of
6-6 money that may be transferred by all local exchange companies under
6-7 this section may not exceed $400,000. During each subsequent state
6-8 fiscal year, the total amount of money that may be transferred by
6-9 all local exchange companies under this section may not exceed the
6-10 total amount of money transferred to rural scholarship funds under
6-11 Section 74.3011 during the previous state fiscal year. The state
6-12 treasury shall keep a record of the total amount of money
6-13 transferred annually. If the total amount of money transferred
6-14 during a state fiscal year equals the amount allowed by this
6-15 subsection, the treasury shall notify each local exchange company
6-16 that the company may not transfer any additional money to the
6-17 company's scholarship fund during the remainder of that state
6-18 fiscal year.]
6-19 SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
6-20 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-21 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
6-22 adopt the rules for awarding scholarships under Section 54.216,
6-23 Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than December 1,
6-24 1997.
6-25 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.