BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 66

By: Guillen

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties note that if a student appointed to receive a Texas Armed Services Scholarship loses eligibility for the scholarship, the appointing official is unable to make another appointment until the next year. C.S.H.B. 66 seeks to address this issue by allowing an appointing official, should the first student lose eligibility, to award the scholarship's remaining funds to another eligible student beginning with the next academic year.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 66 amends the Education Code to change the entity making the determination about whether a student receiving a scholarship under the Texas armed services scholarship program has maintained satisfactory academic progress to continue to receive the scholarship from the institution in which the student is enrolled to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The bill authorizes the elected official who appointed a student to receive an initial scholarship under the program who the coordinating board determines has failed to maintain eligibility or otherwise meet the requirements to continue receiving the scholarship to appoint, beginning with the academic year following the determination, another student eligible for scholarship funds under that program to receive any available funds designated for the student who no longer meets the scholarship requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2017.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 66 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

INTRODUCED	HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
SECTION 1.  Section 61.9772(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (b)  In each year, the governor and the lieutenant governor may each appoint two students and each state senator and each state representative may appoint one student to receive an initial scholarship under this subchapter. If a student appointed under this subsection to receive a scholarship fails to maintain eligibility or otherwise meet the requirements to continue receiving the scholarship, the elected official who appointed the student may appoint another student eligible under this subchapter to receive any available funds designated for the student originally appointed.	SECTION 1.  Section 61.9772, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: (c)  For a student to continue to receive a scholarship awarded under this subchapter, the student must maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by the board [institution in which the student is enrolled]. (d)  If the board determines that a student appointed under Subsection (b) to receive an initial scholarship under this subchapter has failed to maintain eligibility or otherwise meet the requirements to continue receiving the scholarship, beginning with the academic year following the determination, the elected official who appointed the student may appoint another eligible student under this subchapter to receive any available funds designated for the student who no longer meets the requirements for the scholarship.
SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.	SECTION 2. Same as introduced version.