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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5832
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING EM ERGENCY EXPENSE GRAN T 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) As used in this section: 1
"State and certain other institutional funds" means (1) funds 2
appropriated or proceeds of bonds authorized by the General 3
Assembly, (2) revenue generated from tuition or any other source, and 4
(3) funds collected from student fees, housing fees or dining services. 5
(b) A public institution of higher education may establish an 6
emergency expense grant program to provide an emergency expense 7
grant to any student who experiences an unexpected financial 8
hardship that impedes such student's ability to complete his or her 9
degree program. Such financial hardship may include, but need not be 10
limited to, expenses relating to childcare, medical care or 11
transportation expenses. 12
(c) Any student who is enrolled at a public institution of higher 13
education that has established an emergency expense grant program 14
under this section may receive an emergency expense grant by 15
submitting an application to the institution or through a nomination 16
on behalf of such student by an employee of the institution. An 17
application or nomination for an emergency expense grant shall 18
include (1) an explanation of the student's financial hardship, (2) 19
documentation substantiating the student's emergency expenses, and 20
(3) any other information the institution may require. 21 Substitute Bill No. 5832
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(d) Upon receipt of an application made by a student or a 22
nomination on behalf of a student made by an employee pursuant to 23
subsection (c) of this section, the public institution of higher education 24
may award an emergency expense grant to a student upon 25
determination that the financial hardship would impede the student's 26
ability to complete his or her degree. 27
(e) For purposes of establishing an emergency expense grant 28
program under this section, a public institution of higher education 29
may (1) accept private donations, (2) allocate state and certain other 30
institutional funds, or (3) on or before July 1, 2020, and annually 31
thereafter, apply to the Office of Higher Education, in the form and 32
manner prescribed by said office, for a state matching grant, the 33
provision of which shall be made in accordance with the provisions of 34
section 2 of this act. 35
(f) A public institution of higher education that applies for a state 36
matching grant under subsection (e) of this section to support the 37
institution's emergency expense grant program shall maintain a 38
separate, nonlapsing emergency expense grant program account. The 39
institution shall deposit into such account (1) all private donations 40
accepted by the institution for the purpose of the emergency expense 41
grant program, (2) all state and certain other institutional funds 42
allocated by the institution for the purpose of the emergency expense 43
grant program, and (3) any state matching grant funds received 44
pursuant to section 2 of this act. 45
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) Not later than September 1, 46
2020, and annually thereafter, the Office of Higher Education shall, 47
within available appropriations and upon receipt of an application 48
from a public institution of higher education for a state matching 49
grant, provide a state matching grant to the public institution of higher 50
education for the purpose of the institution's emergency expense grant 51
program established pursuant to section 1 of this act. In any fiscal year, 52
a state matching grant to a public institution of higher education shall 53
be in an amount equal to the total amount of private donations 54 Substitute Bill No. 5832
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accepted by the institution for the purpose of the emergency expense 55
grant program during the prior fiscal year. 56
(b) In any fiscal year, the total amount of the state matching grants 57
provided by the Office of Higher Education under this section shall not 58
exceed five hundred thousand dollars. If, in any fiscal year, the total 59
amount sought in all state matching grant applications submitted by 60
the public institutions of higher education exceeds the amount 61
available to the Office of Higher Education for the purpose of the 62
emergency expense grant programs, all such matching grants shall be 63
reduced on a pro rata basis. 64
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) A public institution of higher 65
education that receives matching grants pursuant to section 2 of this 66
act shall, on or before July 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, submit a 67
report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 68
statutes, to the Office of Higher Education and to the joint standing 69
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 70
relating to higher education regarding (1) the number of emergency 71
expense grant program applications received and awarded, (2) the 72
average and total dollar amounts of the emergency expense grants 73
requested and awarded, (3) the purposes for which the emergency 74
expense grants were requested, (4) the rates of graduation of recipients 75
of emergency expense grants and the general student body, and (5) 76
any other information the Office of Higher Education deems necessary. 77
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
HED Joint Favorable Subst.