By Palmer H.B. No. 3043
76R8153 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to establishing a scholarship program and prekindergarten
1-3 program to be funded from revenues of the state lottery.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 (b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
1-8 the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
1-9 (1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
1-10 tickets;
1-11 (2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
1-12 administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
1-13 lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
1-14 biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
1-15 revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
1-16 (3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
1-17 prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
1-18 account; and
1-19 (4) the balance, after creation of a reserve
1-20 sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed
1-21 under Subdivisions (1) through (3), to be transferred to the hope
1-22 education account [foundation school fund], on or before the 15th
1-23 day of each month.
1-24 SECTION 2. Subchapter G, Chapter 403, Government Code, is
2-1 amended by adding Section 403.105 to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 403.105. HOPE EDUCATION ACCOUNT. (a) the hope
2-3 education account is an account in the general revenue fund.
2-4 (b) The comptroller shall distribute one-half of the revenue
2-5 deposited to the credit of the hope education account to each
2-6 school district in this state that provides general elementary
2-7 education in the territory of the school district. Each qualified
2-8 school district is entitled to an amount that is in proportion to
2-9 the district's share of the average daily attendance of students in
2-10 the first and second grades of all qualified districts in the
2-11 preceding school year, as determined by the commissioner of
2-12 education. A school district shall use the money received by the
2-13 district under this subsection to fund the district's
2-14 prekindergarden program established under Section 29.1531,
2-15 Education Code.
2-16 (c) The comptroller shall transfer one-half of the revenue
2-17 deposited to the credit of the hope education account to the Texas
2-18 Higher Education Coordinating Board to fund scholarships under
2-19 Subchapter M, Chapter 56, Education Code.
2-20 (d) The comptroller shall transfer the money deposited to
2-21 the hope education account not less than monthly in the amounts
2-22 provided by Subsections (b) and (c).
2-23 SECTION 3. The section heading to Section 29.153, Education
2-24 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 29.153. PREKINDERGARTEN FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.
2-26 SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
2-27 amended by adding Section 29.1531 to read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 29.1531. PREKINDERGARTEN FUNDED BY LOTTERY PROCEEDS.
3-2 (a) Subject to the receipt of lottery proceeds under Subsection
3-3 (b), a school district shall administer a supplemental
3-4 prekindergarten program for children who are at least four years of
3-5 age and who are not eligible to enroll in prekindergarten classes
3-6 under Section 29.153.
3-7 (b) A school district shall fund a supplemental
3-8 prekindergarten program exclusively with lottery proceeds received
3-9 by the district from the hope education account under Section
3-10 403.105, Government Code. A school district is not required by
3-11 this section to provide prekindergarten classes to any child who is
3-12 not selected to participate in the program under Subsection (c).
3-13 (c) A school district shall develop and implement procedures
3-14 for selecting children to participate in the program. The
3-15 procedures must include:
3-16 (1) an annual determination of the number of positions
3-17 available in the program for the subsequent school year, based on
3-18 the amount of funding available for the program;
3-19 (2) a process for notifying the population in the
3-20 district with children who may participate in the program; and
3-21 (3) use of a random selection process to select
3-22 children to participate in the program if the number of children
3-23 applying to participate exceeds the number of positions available.
3-24 (d) A school district may operate prekindergarten classes
3-25 under this section jointly with prekindergarten classes operated
3-26 under Section 29.153.
3-27 SECTION 5. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
4-1 Subchapter M to read as follows:
4-2 SUBCHAPTER M. TEXAS HOPE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
4-3 Sec. 56.301. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "coordinating
4-4 board" means the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
4-5 Sec. 56.302. PROGRAM NAME; PURPOSE. (a) The student
4-6 financial assistance program authorized by this subchapter is known
4-7 as the Texas Hope Scholarship Program, and an individual grant
4-8 awarded under this subchapter is known as a hope scholarship.
4-9 (b) The purpose of the program is to provide a grant of
4-10 money for tuition and required fees to assist a qualified person to
4-11 enter a public or private institution of higher education and to
4-12 continue receiving assistance while the person achieves and
4-13 maintains excellent academic performance.
4-14 Sec. 56.303. ELIGIBLE PERSON. (a) To be eligible for a
4-15 hope scholarship, a person must:
4-16 (1) be a Texas resident as defined by coordinating
4-17 board rules;
4-18 (2) enroll as a full-time or part-time student in an
4-19 institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003 or
4-20 approved under Section 61.222, not later than the end of the
4-21 academic year immediately following the school year in which the
4-22 person graduates from high school;
4-23 (3) have graduated from a public high school or
4-24 accredited private high school in this state with a cumulative
4-25 grade average that is equal to or greater than the equivalent of 85
4-26 on a scale of 100;
4-27 (4) meet any reasonable attendance and disciplinary
5-1 standards established by the coordinating board;
5-2 (5) have applied for any available financial
5-3 assistance; and
5-4 (6) have complied with any other administrative
5-5 requirements adopted by the coordinating board under this
5-6 subchapter.
5-7 (b) A hope scholarship is available only to a person
5-8 enrolled in an undergraduate degree or certificate program. A
5-9 person may not receive a hope scholarship if the person has been
5-10 granted a baccalaureate degree.
5-11 (c) A person may not receive a hope scholarship for more
5-12 than 140 semester hours or the equivalent.
5-13 (d) A person is not eligible to receive a hope scholarship
5-14 if the person has been convicted of a felony, a crime involving
5-15 moral turpitude, or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety
5-16 Code, or under the law of any other jurisdiction involving a
5-17 controlled substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety
5-18 Code, unless the person has met the other applicable eligibility
5-19 requirements under this subchapter and has:
5-20 (1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
5-21 Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
5-22 completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least
5-23 two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion;
5-24 or
5-25 (2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
5-26 expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
5-27 the resulting ineligibility to receive a hope scholarship.
6-1 Sec. 56.304. ALLOCATION OF SCHOLARSHIPS; SELECTION OF
6-2 FRESHMAN RECIPIENTS. (a) Each year, the coordinating board shall
6-3 estimate:
6-4 (1) the total amount to be transferred to the board
6-5 during the next academic year from the hope education account under
6-6 Section 403.105(c), Government Code, and any amount previously
6-7 transferred to the board that will be available for scholarships in
6-8 that academic year; and
6-9 (2) the portion of the amount estimated under
6-10 Subdivision (1) that will be necessary to fund the hope
6-11 scholarships of persons already attending institutions of higher
6-12 education who will be entitled to hope scholarships during the next
6-13 academic year under Section 56.305.
6-14 (b) After making the estimates required by Subsection (a),
6-15 the board shall determine the number of hope scholarships that will
6-16 be available to be awarded to incoming freshman students for the
6-17 next academic year, based on the amount estimated under Subsection
6-18 (a)(1) less the amount estimated under Subsection (a)(2).
6-19 (c) The coordinating board shall allocate the total number
6-20 of scholarships available to be awarded to incoming freshman
6-21 students in the next academic year among the school districts in
6-22 this state in proportion to the average daily attendance of
6-23 students in the 11th and 12th grades in each of those school
6-24 districts in the preceding school year, as determined by the
6-25 commissioner of education. The board shall award the scholarships
6-26 allocated to each school district to eligible applicants who
6-27 graduate from a public high school or accredited private high
7-1 school located in the school district. If the number of eligible
7-2 applicants from a school district exceeds the number of
7-3 scholarships allocated to the district, the board shall determine
7-4 which of those eligible applicants receive a scholarship through a
7-5 random selection process. If the number of eligible applicants
7-6 from a school district is less than the number of scholarships
7-7 allocated to the district, the amount of the unused scholarships is
7-8 treated as an amount received from the hope education fund in the
7-9 following academic year.
7-10 (d) In the first three years in which the coordinating board
7-11 awards scholarships under this subchapter, notwithstanding
7-12 Subsection (b), the board may not use more than half of the amount
7-13 the board estimates for the next academic year under Subsection
7-14 (a)(1) to fund hope scholarships for incoming freshman students
7-15 under Subsection (c).
7-16 Sec. 56.305. RETENTION OF SCHOLARSHIP; ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
7-17 REQUIREMENTS. A person who receives a hope scholarship as an
7-18 incoming freshman under Section 56.304 is entitled to receive a
7-19 hope scholarship in a subsequent semester or summer session if the
7-20 person is eligible for a scholarship under Section 56.303 and:
7-21 (1) has a cumulative grade point average of at least
7-22 3.0 on a four-point scale or the equivalent for all courses
7-23 attempted at an institution or institutions described by Section
7-24 56.303(a)(2); and
7-25 (2) maintains satisfactory progress in the person's
7-26 degree or certification program as determined by the coordinating
7-27 board.
8-1 Sec. 56.306. PAYMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP. (a) On receipt of a
8-2 person's hope scholarship application and an enrollment report from
8-3 the institution of higher education enrolling the person providing
8-4 the coordinating board with the information the board requires to
8-5 determine the person's eligibility, the board shall determine
8-6 whether the person is eligible for a scholarship and, if the person
8-7 is selected to receive a scholarship, shall distribute the amount
8-8 of the scholarship for the person to the institution of higher
8-9 education or directly to the person as determined by the board.
8-10 (b) The amount of a hope scholarship is $1,500 for each
8-11 semester or summer session.
8-12 Sec. 56.307. RULES; DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION. (a) The
8-13 coordinating board shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter.
8-14 (b) The coordinating board shall distribute to each
8-15 institution of higher education and to each school district
8-16 information describing the Texas Hope Scholarship Program and how a
8-17 student may qualify and apply for a hope scholarship.
8-18 SECTION 6. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-19 (b) Each school district required to establish a
8-20 prekindergarten program under Section 29.1531, Education Code, as
8-21 added by this Act, shall establish the program not later than the
8-22 2000-2001 school year.
8-23 (c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
8-24 award scholarships under the Texas Hope Scholarship Program
8-25 beginning with the 2000 fall semester.
8-26 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
8-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.