Louisiana 2019 2019 Regular Session

Louisiana House Bill HR210 Introduced / Bill

                    HLS 19RS-2974	ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 210
BY REPRESENTATIVE NANCY LANDRY
COLLEGES/COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL:  Requests that the Louisiana Community
and Technical College System continue a pilot scholarship program for certain adults
1	A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, in
3 coordination with the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Office of Student
4 Financial Assistance, to continue a pilot program to provide public postsecondary
5 education scholarships to certain adult students and to submit written reports of its
6 findings regarding the development and implementation of the program, including
7 any recommendations for related legislation, to the House Committee on Education
8 not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of the 2020 Regular Session of the
9 Legislature and the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature. 
10 WHEREAS, current data and occupational forecasts indicate that a majority of high-
11demand, high-paying occupations will require more than a high school education; and
12 WHEREAS, half of Louisiana's working-age adults have a high school diploma or
13less and lack the skills and education needed to fully participate in the economy; and
14 WHEREAS, every effort must be made to provide greater access to postsecondary
15education to those adults in order to move them from the rolls of the underemployed or
16unemployed to the rolls of a skilled workforce and to ensure that they are prepared to meet
17the current and future workforce needs of the state and are capable of self-sufficiency; and
18 WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 112 and Senate Resolution No. 113 of the 2018
19Regular Session of the Legislature requested the Louisiana Community and Technical
20College System to develop a pilot program to provide public postsecondary education
21scholarships for use in programs aligned with high-demand, high-paying occupations by
Page 1 of 3 HLS 19RS-2974	ORIGINAL
HR NO. 210
1Louisiana's working-age citizens who have earned an alternative high school diploma and
2who have scored at least a seventeen on the ACT; and
3 WHEREAS, the scholarship program for adults did attract and engage more of the
4working-age population in public postsecondary education; and
5 WHEREAS, the adults participating in the scholarship program have demonstrated
6success with higher average rates of persistence and grade point averages than students who
7graduated from high school and have received a TOPS-Tech award; and
8 WHEREAS, further development of this pilot scholarship program is necessary to
9aid in the development of a well-educated, highly skilled, and productive workforce, which
10is of paramount importance to the economic growth of this state.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
12Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Community and
13Technical College System, in coordination with the Board of Regents and the Louisiana
14Office of Student Financial Assistance, to further develop and expand the pilot program
15created in response to the request of House Resolution No. 112 and Senate Resolution
16No. 113 of the 2018 Regular Session of the Legislature to provide public postsecondary
17education scholarships for use in programs aligned with high-demand, high-paying
18occupations by Louisiana's working-age citizens who have earned an alternative high school
19diploma.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the scale of the expanded pilot scholarship
21program administered by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System shall be
22determined by the funds raised by the colleges or appropriated to them.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Community and Technical
24College System shall submit a written report of its findings regarding the development and
25implementation of the pilot program, including any recommendations for related legislation,
26to the House Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of the
272020 Regular Session of the Legislature and the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature.
28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
29president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, the commissioner of
Page 2 of 3 HLS 19RS-2974	ORIGINAL
HR NO. 210
1higher education, and the executive director of the Louisiana Office of Student Financial
2Assistance.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services.  It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument.  The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent.  [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 210 Original 2019 Regular Session Nancy Landry
Requests that the La. Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), in coordination
with the Bd. of Regents and the La. Office of Student Financial Assistance, further develop
and expand a scholarship program for use in certain programs by working-age citizens and
that LCTCS submit written reports of findings regarding the development and
implementation of the pilot program, including any recommendations for related legislation,
to the House Committee on Education not later than 60 days prior to the beginning of 2020
R.S and 2021 R.S.
Page 3 of 3