Amend CSHB 1 (house committee printing) in Article V of the bill, following the appropriations to the Department of Public Safety, by striking Rider 51 (pages V-44 and 45) and substituting the following:

51.  Funding to Add 300 New Employees. Included in the general revenue appropriations made above in Strategy B.1.5, Recruitment, Retention and Support, is $41,717,186 in fiscal year 2016  and $63,282,814 in fiscal year 2017 to fund the recruitment, training and support of 300 new employees, including commissioned officers, criminal investigators, and support personnel, by the end of fiscal year 2017. Included in the 300 total employees is a minimum of 250 employees who shall be stationed in the border region. In this section, border region means an area described by Article IX, Section 7.11 (b) (1), (2), or (3) of this Act. The appropriations are subject to the following provisions:

(a)  The appropriations identified in this rider may be used to fund full-length recruit schools, where "recruit school" is defined as a 23-week recruit school graduating entry-level probationary commissioned officers.

(b)  The appropriations identified in this rider are in addition to, and separate from, the appropriations made above in Strategy F.1.6, Training Academy and Development, to fund six recruit schools.

(c)  The agency shall submit a report to the Legislative Budget Board not later than December 1, 2015 detailing the agency's plan to recruit, train and support 300 new employees by the end of fiscal year 2017. This report shall include a section on the agency's total employee recruitment plan for the 2016-17 biennium, including the commissioned officers expected to result from the six recruit schools noted above in (b).

(d)  The agency shall submit quarterly reports to the Legislative Budget Board detailing the cumulative progress attained toward the goal of hiring 300 new employees by the end of fiscal year 2017.

(e)  $41,717,186 in fiscal year 2016 and $63,282,814 in fiscal year 2017 appropriated in Strategy B.1.5, Recruitment, Retention and Support, is subject to the prior approval authority provided by Article XVI, Section 69, Texas Constitution, and in the event the agency is not in a position to hire 300 new employees using the funds identified in this rider, the Legislative Budget Board may direct the Comptroller of Public Accounts to reduce the agency's appropriations by an amount proportionate to the difference between the targeted number and actual number of employees hired.