Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB209 by Flores (relating to eligibility for an award through the Early High School Graduation Scholarship program. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend an eligibility provision of the Early High School Graduation Scholarship Program that currently requires a student to have attended high school exclusively in one or more public high schools in Texas. The bill would continue to require that a student graduate from a public high school in Texas but would extend eligibility to include students who have attended one or more Texas high schools for the majority of their high school enrollment. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board indicates that of 239,716 graduates in fiscal year 2005, 4,272 or 1.78% received awards through the program with an average award of $1,176. The Board estimates that an additional .05% of graduates or about 120 students would receive awards under the provisions of the bill. Using the same average award of $1,176 would result in an additional $141,120 awarded per year which is not significant to the overall appropriation for the program. The program is financed through transfers from the Foundation School Fund, with an estimated appropriation of $8.6 million for the 2006-2007 biennium.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board