By Villarreal                                         H.B. No. 1799
         77R11007 JSA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to long-range planning for higher education.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 61.051, Education Code, is amended by
 1-5     adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
 1-6           (i)  The board shall develop and periodically revise a
 1-7     long-range statewide plan to provide information and guidance to
 1-8     policy makers to ensure that institutions of higher education meet
 1-9     the current and future needs of each region of this state for
1-10     higher education services and that adequate higher education
1-11     services at all levels are reasonably and equally available to the
1-12     residents of each region of this state.  The board in developing
1-13     the plan shall examine existing undergraduate, graduate,
1-14     professional, and research programs provided by institutions of
1-15     higher education and identify the geographic areas of this state
1-16     that, as a result of current population or projected population
1-17     growth, distance from other educational resources, economic trends,
1-18     or other factors, have or are reasonably likely to have in the
1-19     future significantly greater need for higher education services
1-20     than the services currently provided in the area by existing
1-21     institutions of higher education.  The board shall also consider
1-22     the higher education services provided by private and independent
1-23     institutions of higher education in developing the plan.  The board
1-24     shall identify as specifically as practicable the programs or
 2-1     fields of study for which an area has or is projected to have a
 2-2     significant unmet need for services.  In determining the need for
 2-3     higher educational services in an area, the board shall consider
 2-4     the educational attainment of the current population and the extent
 2-5     to which residents from the area attend institutions of higher
 2-6     education outside of the area or do not attend institutions of
 2-7     higher education.  The board shall include in the plan specific
 2-8     recommendations, including alternative recommendations, for
 2-9     administrative or legislative action to address an area's unmet
2-10     need for higher educational services as efficiently as possible.
2-11     Not later than November 1 of each even-numbered year, the board
2-12     shall deliver to the governor, lieutenant governor, and legislature
2-13     a report of the current long-range plan developed under this
2-14     section.
2-15           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-16     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-17     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-18     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-19     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.