81R22236 KSD-D
 
  By: Villarreal, Guillen, Rodriguez H.B. No. 1935
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1935:
 
  By:  Brown of Brazos C.S.H.B. No. 1935
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of the Texas Adult Career Education
  Grant Program to support community-based initiatives that assist
  unemployed and underemployed adults in receiving postsecondary
  education necessary to obtain employment in local, high-demand
  occupations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 403, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subchapter O to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER O.  OTHER PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY COMPTROLLER
         Sec. 403.351.  TEXAS ADULT CAREER EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM.
  (a)  In this section, "nonprofit organization" means an
  organization exempt from federal income taxation under Section
  501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization described
  by Section 501(c)(3) of that code.
         (b)  The comptroller shall establish and administer the
  Texas Adult Career Education Grant Program to provide grants to
  eligible nonprofit organizations that apply to the comptroller in
  the manner prescribed by the comptroller.  The purpose of the
  program is to provide grants to enable eligible nonprofit
  organizations, in partnership with public junior colleges, to
  administer community-based initiatives that:
               (1)  are designed to provide unemployed and
  underemployed adults with the postsecondary education necessary to
  obtain living-wage careers in high-demand occupations in the local
  community; and
               (2)  use methodologies proven to achieve measurable
  results in developing the skill sets of unemployed and
  underemployed adults to enable those persons and their families to
  achieve financial independence.
         (c)  To be eligible for a grant under this section, a
  nonprofit organization must:
               (1)  be governed by a board or other governing
  structure that includes recognized community leaders of
  broad-based community organizations and members of the local
  business community; and
               (2)  demonstrate to the satisfaction of the comptroller
  that the organization's programs have achieved the following
  measures of success among program participants to the extent
  applicable to the types of programs conducted or to be conducted by
  the organization:
                     (A)  above average completion of developmental
  education among public junior college students;
                     (B)  above average persistence rates among public
  junior college students;
                     (C)  above average certificate or degree
  completion rates within a three-year period among first-time
  demographically comparable public junior college students;
                     (D)  increased reading and mathematics
  performance;
                     (E)  employment at an average full-time starting
  wage that is:
                           (i)  at least 50 percent of the local median
  household income; and
                           (ii)  equal to or greater than the
  prevailing wage for the occupation entered; and
                     (F)  increased tax receipts and decreased
  reliance on public assistance as a result of employment
  opportunities created through program participation sufficient to
  offset the amount of public money used to finance the
  organization's programs.
         (d)  A grant received under this section may be used only:
               (1)  to support programs that:
                     (A)  prepare unemployed or underemployed adults
  for career employment in private and public sector jobs that are
  identified by local businesses as being in high demand and that
  provide a living wage, health benefits, and opportunities for
  career advancement;
                     (B)  assist unemployed or underemployed adults in
  earning transferable degree credits at public junior colleges;
                     (C)  provide unemployed or underemployed adults
  with an educational path to the completion of a certificate or
  degree program at a public junior college that is based on each
  individual's academic need at the time of enrollment, including
  adult education, high school equivalency certificate preparation,
  literacy and English as a second language classes, developmental
  education, and transferable degree credit course work; and
                     (D)  provide unemployed or underemployed adults
  with child care, counseling, case management, mentoring,
  transportation, emergency assistance, financial assistance toward
  the cost of tuition, fees, and books, and other assistance; and
               (2)  as state matching funds used to match local public
  or private funding to support programs described by Subdivision
  (1).
         (e)  From grant money received by a nonprofit organization
  under this section, the organization may not spend more than $3,000
  in a calendar year on a single individual receiving assistance
  under a program described by Subsection (d)(1).
         (f)  The comptroller shall adopt rules for the
  administration of this section.
         SECTION 2.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, the comptroller of public accounts shall adopt rules
  for the administration of the Texas Adult Career Education Grant
  Program under Section 403.351, Government Code, as added by this
  Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2009.