BILL ANALYSIS
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Senate Research Center |
H.B. 5154 |
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89R26624 JTZ-D |
By: Wilson (Kolkhorst) |
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Health & Human Services |
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5/20/2025 |
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Engrossed |
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
The Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) was established by the Texas Legislature in 2001 through S.B. 940 (Senator Bivins). This innovative initiative was created to assist highly motivated and economically disadvantaged Texas students in preparing for, and succeeding in, medical school across the state. Funded by the state through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, JAMP is a collaborative effort between participating medical schools and institutions of higher education. Since its inception, the program has admitted more than 1,000 students, many of whom have gone on to earn medical degrees and return to serve in underserved areas of Texas.
H.B. 5154 seeks to modernize JAMP by updating outdated statutes, clarifying council governance, and expanding reporting requirements for the JAMP Council. The bill also introduces key provisions to improved financial transparency, enhance program oversight, and the creation of an online student feedback portal to support responsiveness and accountability.
H.B. 5154 amends current law relating to the Joint Admission Medical Program Council.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 51.822, Education Code, as follows:
Sec. 51.822. JOINT ADMISSION MEDICAL PROGRAM. Provides that the Joint Admission Medical Program (program) is a program administered by the Joint Admission Medical Program Council (council) to:
(1) provide services, including mentoring, academic support, and counseling and relief, to support and encourage highly qualified, economically disadvantaged students pursuing a medical education to complete a medical degree and meet state workforce needs;
(2) makes a substantive change to this subdivision:
(3) guarantee and facilitate the admission of those students to at least one participating medical school, subject to certain conditions;
(4) align statewide educational and workforce goals to increase medical jobs and stop workforce shortages; and
(5) promote the accessibility and equality of medical education by addressing statewide barriers to entry and participation for economically disadvantaged communities.
SECTION 2. Amends Section 51.823, Education Code, as follows:
Sec. 51.823. COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL. (a) Makes nonsubstantive changes to this subsection.
(c) Requires the chair of the council to facilitate council meetings, ensure compliance with program goals, and represent the council in interactions with relevant stakeholders, including the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service and legislative committees.
(d) Requires the council to establish clear policies to ensure effective communication among council members, including procedures for convening regular meetings to review program implementation and evaluate outcomes, protocols for disseminating an agenda or report before a meeting, mechanisms for soliciting feedback from council members to promote transparency and collaboration, and procedures for promoting public meetings to students.
SECTION 3. Amends Subchapter V, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.8235, as follows:
Sec. 51.8235. COUNCIL MEETINGS. Requires the council to provide notice of each council meeting, which is required to be posted in a place readily accessible and available to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting and include sufficient detail regarding the meeting's agenda to inform participants and the general public of the topics to be discussed or decided.
SECTION 4. Amends Section 51.824(a), Education Code, as follows:
(a) Requires the council to take certain actions, including pursuing opportunities to increase scholarship money allocated to participating students to at least 30 percent of the total amount appropriated for purposes of the program without impeding the implementation of other program functions and goals, including coordinating efforts with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to request additional legislative appropriations; soliciting gifts, grants, and donations under Section 51.833 (Funding); and collaborating with private foundations, corporations, and entities to secure supplemental funding. Makes nonsubstantive changes.
SECTION 5. Amends Section 51.834, Education Code, by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c), as follows:
(b) Requires that the council's report on the program contain detailed information regarding:
(1) any problems� the council identifies in implementing the program, including external or internal challenges, deficiencies, or obstacles, with recommended solutions for those problems, including recommendations for legislative action to streamline and enhance the implementation of the program;
(2) an accounting of all, rather than the expenditure of any, money received under Subchapter V (Joint Admission Medical Program), including legislative appropriations and private funding sources, breakdowns of disbursements, the specific purposes for which money was used, and a statement of the ending balance and any unobligated and unexpended money remaining for the state fiscal year;
(3) the total number of students who are admitted to the program;
(4) creates this subdivision from existing text and makes nonsubstantive changes;
(5) the number of students, disaggregated by year of enrollment, who, while enrolled in a baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree program at a general academic teaching institution, private or independent institution of higher education, or participating medical school, as applicable, were dismissed or withdrawn from the program by the council, were placed on probation by the council, �or voluntarily withdrew from the program;
(6) enrollment, withdrawal, and disciplinary data for students described by Subdivision (5) for each academic year of a baccalaureate, graduate, or professional degree program at a general academic teaching institution, private or independent institution of higher education, or participating medical school;
(7) expenditures for graduate scholarships awarded to participating medical students, including:
(A)� the amount awarded and disbursed to each participating medical student;
(B)� if there is unobligated and unexpended money that may be spent on graduate scholarships at the end of a state fiscal year, the reason why that money was not spent;
(C)� any constraints delaying the reallocation of unobligated money to medical school scholarship recipients, including institutional policies; and
(D)� a plan for applying or reallocating unobligated money in a manner that ensures accountability and sustainability;
(8) an estimate of the total amount of program funding required for the next state fiscal biennium to maintain enrollment and operations and increase the graduate scholarship amount for medical school scholarship recipients, including requirements under Section 51.824 (Council Duties), including projections based on current and anticipated scholarship demands, recommendations for appropriations specifying the additional money needed, and a formal request or petition for supplemental funding to ensure the program's financial stability and capacity to meet future demands;
(9) the amount of gifts, grants, and donations received under Section 51.833; and
(10) any notes, agendas, minutes, and reports made in regard to council meetings, including certain information.
(c) Requires that all data reported under Section 51.834 (Report) be disaggregated by the type of institution and academic year and reported in a manner that ensures compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g).
SECTION 6. Amends Subchapter V, Chapter 51, Education Code, by adding Section 51.835, as follows:
Sec. 51.835. ONLINE FEEDBACK PORTAL. (a) Requires the council to develop and maintain a secure online portal to allow students in the program to submit anonymous or identified recommendations and complaints regarding the program. Requires that the portal ensure anonymity for all submissions submitted anonymously, using encryption and other privacy safeguards to protect the identity of the student making the submission; be accessible through different platforms, including mobile devices; and use an intuitive and user-friendly interface to encourage participation and ease of use.
(b) Requires the council to review complaints or recommendations submitted through the online portal on a regular basis to identify potential areas for improvement.
(c) Requires that a complaint or recommendation submitted through the online portal be shared with the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service and other relevant stakeholders, as authorized by law, and compiled into a report to be included in the council's report under Section 51.834, posted on the council's Internet website, and submitted to participating students and the standing legislative committees with primary jurisdiction over higher education.
(d) Requires the council to establish procedures to ensure that complaints and recommendations submitted through the online portal are addressed in a timely and transparent manner, including by developing a tracking system to monitor the resolution of complaints and recommendations, a mechanism to categorize submissions by topic and urgency to prioritize responses effectively, and a process for notifying a student of actions taken in response to the student's complaint or recommendation, excluding information that would violate a student's expectation of privacy.
(e) Requires the council to promote the online portal to participating students, including by providing information during student orientation, via e-mail, and through the program's Internet website.
SECTION 7. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2025.