1-1     By:  Haywood                                          S.B. No. 1183
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     April 16, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 16, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the creation and administration of the rural
 1-9     veterinarian incentive program.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subtitle D, Title 3, Education Code, is amended
1-12     by adding Chapter 89 to read as follows:
1-13              Chapter 89.  RURAL VETERINARIAN INCENTIVE PROGRAM
1-14           Sec. 89.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
1-15                 (1)  "Board" means the State Board of Veterinary
1-16     Medical Examiners.
1-17                 (2)  "College" means the College of Veterinary
1-18     Medicine, Texas A&M University.
1-19                 (3)  "Commission" means the Texas Animal Health
1-20     Commission.
1-21                 (4)  "Committee" means the rural veterinarian incentive
1-22     program advisory committee.
1-23                 (5)  "Fund" means the rural veterinarian incentive
1-24     program fund.
1-25                 (6)  "Program" means the rural veterinarian incentive
1-26     program.
1-27                 (7)  "Rural county" means a county with a population of
1-28     less than 50,000.
1-29                 (8)  "University" means Texas A&M University.
1-30           Sec. 89.002.  RURAL VETERINARIAN INCENTIVE PROGRAM ADVISORY
1-31     COMMITTEE.  (a)  The committee is composed of the following five
1-32     members:
1-33                 (1)  the executive director of the commission;
1-34                 (2)  the executive director of the board;
1-35                 (3)  the dean of the college;
1-36                 (4)  a veterinarian with a mixed animal practice; and
1-37                 (5)  a veterinarian with a large animal practice.
1-38           (b)  The dean of the college shall serve as the chair of the
1-39     committee.
1-40           (c)  The committee shall promulgate rules:
1-41                 (1)  establishing the criteria for students or
1-42     graduates to be eligible to participate in the program, including:
1-43                       (A)  a minimum grade point average; and
1-44                       (B)  financial need of the participant;
1-45                 (2)  governing the distribution of money from the fund
1-46     for the program;
1-47                 (3)  establishing the criteria necessary for a
1-48     community or political subdivision in a rural county to qualify as
1-49     a rural sponsor;
1-50                 (4)  governing terms and conditions of agreements of
1-51     financial support between rural sponsors and eligible students; and
1-52                 (5)  establishing other procedures necessary to
1-53     administer the program.
1-54           Sec. 89.003.  ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.  A student is eligible to
1-55     participate in the program if the student:
1-56                 (1)  is enrolled with the college or applied to
1-57     participate in the program within one year of the date of
1-58     graduation from the college;
1-59                 (2)  receives or has received at least 50 percent of
1-60     the funds for tuition and fees from a student loan; and
1-61                 (3)  meets the minimum grade point average established
1-62     by the committee.
1-63           Sec. 89.004.  RURAL SPONSORS.  (a)  A community or a
1-64     political subdivision in a rural county that qualifies under the
 2-1     rules established by the committee under Section 89.002(c)(3) may
 2-2     provide financial support to a student described in Section 89.003.
 2-3           (b)  The rural sponsor shall enter into an agreement with the
 2-4     eligible student under Subsection (c).
 2-5           (c)  An agreement of financial support shall fund at least
 2-6     one full year of tuition and fees for an eligible student enrolled
 2-7     in the college.
 2-8           (d)  Financial support under this section:
 2-9                 (1)  may be satisfied in whole or part by a grant,
2-10     scholarship, or private foundation; and
2-11                 (2)  shall be deposited in the fund for distribution to
2-12     the eligible student by the university.
2-13           Sec. 89.005.  FINANCIAL SUPPORT.  (a)  A student
2-14     participating in the program shall enter into an agreement with the
2-15     university to practice veterinary medicine in a rural county for
2-16     one year for each year of financial support received by the
2-17     student.
2-18           (b)  The financial support received by a student under this
2-19     chapter shall be used for the repayment of student loan
2-20     indebtedness or to pay tuition and fees to the university.
2-21           (c)  Financial support from the fund shall be awarded in the
2-22     form of grants.
2-23           Sec. 89.006.  RURAL VETERINARIAN INCENTIVE PROGRAM FUND.
2-24     (a)  The rural veterinarian incentive program fund is a fund in the
2-25     state treasury.
2-26           (b)  The fund consists of legislative appropriations, gifts,
2-27     grants, donations, the market value of in-kind contributions, and
2-28     other sources of revenue deposited to the credit of the fund by the
2-29     university.
2-30           (c)  The fund shall be administered by the university in
2-31     accordance with the rules established by the committee.
2-32           Sec. 89.007.  ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM.  The university
2-33     shall administer the program according to the rules established by
2-34     the committee.
2-35           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-36           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-37     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-38     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-39     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-40     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-41                                  * * * * *