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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5832
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3507
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT CONCERNING EMERGENCY EXPENSE GR ANT PROGRAMS
AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) A public institution of 1
higher education may establish an emergency expense grant program 2
to provide an emergency expense grant to a ny student who 3
experiences an unexpected financial hardship that impedes such 4
student's ability to complete his or her degree program. Such financial 5
hardship may include, but need not be limited to, expenses relating to 6
childcare, medical care or transportation expenses. 7
(b) Any student who is enrolled at a public institution of higher 8
education that has established an emergency expense grant program 9
under this section may receive an emergency expense grant by 10
submitting an application to the institution or through a nomination 11
on behalf of such student by an employee of the institution. An 12
application or nomination for an emergency expense grant shall 13
include (1) an explanation of the student's financial hardship, (2) 14
documentation substantiating the student's emergency expenses, and 15
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(3) any other information the institution may require. 16
(c) Upon receipt of an application made by a student or a 17
nomination on behalf of a student made by an employee pursuant to 18
subsection (b) of this section, the public institution of higher education 19
may award an emergency expense grant to a student upon 20
determination that the financial hardship would impede the student's 21
ability to complete his or her degree. 22
(d) For purposes of establishing an emergency expense grant 23
program under this section, a public institution of higher education 24
may (1) accept private donations, (2) allocate state and certain other 25
institutional funds, as defined in section 10a-151f of the general 26
statutes, or (3) apply to the Office of Higher Education for a state 27
matching grant, in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of this 28
act. 29
(e) A public institution of higher education may apply to the Office 30
of Higher Education, in a manner prescribed by said office, for a state 31
matching grant to support the institution's emergency expense grant 32
program. In order to receive a state matching grant pursuant to section 33
2 of this act, a public institution of higher education shall maintain a 34
separate, nonlapsing emergency expense grant program account. The 35
institution shall deposit into such account (1) all private donations 36
accepted by the institution for the purpose of the emergency expense 37
grant program, (2) all state and certain other institutional funds 38
allocated by the institution for the purpose of the emergency expense 39
grant program, and (3) any state matching grant funds received 40
pursuant to section 2 of this act. 41
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) For purposes of an 42
emergency expense grant program established pursuant to section 1 of 43
this act, the Office of Higher Education shall, within available 44
appropriations and upon receipt of an application from a public 45
institution of higher education for a state matching grant, provide a 46
state matching grant to the public institution of higher education. In 47
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any fiscal year, a state matching grant to a public institution of higher 48
education shall be in an amount equal to the total funds deposited in 49
such institution's emergency expense grant program account, as 50
described in section 1 of this act, minus any funds remaining in such 51
account from the prior fiscal year. 52
(b) In any fiscal year, the total amount of the state matching grants 53
provided by the Office of Higher Education under this section shall not 54
exceed five hundred thousand dollars. If, in any fiscal year, the total 55
amount sought in all state matching grant applications submitted by 56
the public institutions of higher education exceeds the amount 57
available to the Office of Higher Education for the purpose of the 58
emergency expense grant programs, all such matching grants shall be 59
reduced on a pro rata basis. 60
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) A public institution of higher 61
education that receives matching grants pursuant to section 2 of this 62
act shall, on or before July 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, submit a 63
report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 64
statutes, to the Office of Higher Education and to the joint standing 65
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 66
relating to higher education regarding (1) the number of emergency 67
expense grant program applications received and awarded, (2) the 68
average and total dollar amounts of the emergency expense grants 69
requested and awarded, (3) the purposes for which the emergency 70
expense grants were requested, (4) the rates of graduation of recipients 71
of emergency expense grants and the general student body, and (5) 72
any other information the Office of Higher Education deems necessary. 73
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 New section
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Statement of Purpose:
To provide one-time emergency expense grants to students' who
experience unexpected financial hardships that impede such students
ability to complete their degree.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. TURCO, 27th Dist.
H.B. 5832