Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4471 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 4471
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the professional nursing shortage reduction program.
6	6	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	7	SECTION 1. Section 61.9621, Education Code, is amended to
8	8	read as follows:
9	9	Sec. 61.9621. DEFINITION [DEFINITIONS]. In this
10	10	subchapter, "professional nursing program" means an educational
11	11	program offered by a public or private institution of higher
12	12	education for preparing students for initial licensure as
13	13	registered nurses.
14	14	SECTION 2. Section 61.9623(a), Education Code, is amended
15	15	to read as follows:
16	16	(a) A grant from the professional nursing shortage
17	17	reduction program to a professional nursing program or other entity
18	18	involved with a professional nursing program in the preparation of
19	19	students for initial licensure as registered nurses must be:
20	20	(1) expended exclusively on costs related to:
21	21	(A) enrolling additional students;
22	22	(B) nursing faculty enhancement in accordance
23	23	with Section 61.96231;
24	24	(C) encouraging innovation in the recruitment
25	25	and retention of students, including the recruitment and retention
26	26	of Spanish-speaking and bilingual students; or
27	27	(D) identifying, developing, or implementing
28	28	innovative methods to make the most effective use of limited
29	29	professional nursing program faculty, instructional or clinical
30	30	space, and other resources, including:
31	31	(i) sharing curriculum and administrative
32	32	or instructional personnel, facilities, and responsibilities
33	33	between two or more professional nursing programs located in the
34	34	same region of this state; and
35	35	(ii) using preceptors or part-time faculty
36	36	to provide clinical instruction in order to address the need for
37	37	qualified faculty to accommodate increased student enrollment in
38	38	the professional nursing program;
39	39	(2) contingent on the professional nursing program's
40	40	having been approved as a professional nursing program by the board
41	41	or the Texas Board of Nursing, as appropriate[, by September 1,
42	42	2001];
43	43	(3) contingent on the professional nursing program's
44	44	not being on probation with the Texas Board of Nursing or other
45	45	accrediting body; and
46	46	(4) if granted to increase enrollments, contingent on
47	47	the professional nursing program's ability to enroll additional
48	48	students, including having the necessary classroom space and
49	49	clinical slots.
50	50	SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
51	51	amended by adding Sections 61.96232, 61.96233, and 61.9629 to read
52	52	as follows:
53	53	Sec. 61.96232. GRANTS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF GRADUATES:
54	54	APPLICATION PROCESS. (a) The board by rule shall establish a
55	55	process under which a public or private institution of higher
56	56	education that offers a professional nursing program may apply for
57	57	a grant under this subchapter and the commissioner of higher
58	58	education, contingent on appropriations of money for the grants,
59	59	selects one or more applicants to receive a grant based on criteria
60	60	established by board rule. The criteria must include the
61	61	institution's agreement that the institution's professional
62	62	nursing program will enroll additional students or graduate
63	63	additional students prepared for initial licensure as registered
64	64	nurses.
65	65	(b) The process established under Subsection (a) may
66	66	authorize the commissioner of higher education to accept a joint
67	67	application from multiple institutions that agree to cooperate on a
68	68	regional or joint basis for their professional nursing programs to
69	69	enroll additional students or graduate additional students
70	70	prepared for initial licensure as registered nurses.
71	71	(c) The application for a grant under this section must
72	72	require the institution applying for a grant to:
73	73	(1) state the number of additional students that the
74	74	institution's professional nursing program intends to enroll or
75	75	graduate;
76	76	(2) identify benchmarks for determining adequate
77	77	progress toward enrolling or graduating those additional students;
78	78	(3) state the amount of grant money requested; and
79	79	(4) describe a proposed payment schedule for
80	80	distribution of the grant money to the institution seeking the
81	81	grant.
82	82	(d) The commissioner of higher education may negotiate
83	83	changes to the application before approving the application.
84	84	(e) If a professional nursing program fails to enroll or
85	85	graduate the number of additional students stated in the approved
86	86	application or does not meet a benchmark identified in the approved
87	87	application, the commissioner of higher education may:
88	88	(1) require the institution offering the professional
89	89	nursing program to return any unearned grant money awarded to the
90	90	program under this subchapter;
91	91	(2) withhold future grant awards that would otherwise
92	92	be made under this subchapter in accordance with the approved
93	93	application;
94	94	(3) renegotiate the terms of the approved application;
95	95	or
96	96	(4) rescind approval of the application.
97	97	(f) The board may appoint an advisory committee to advise
98	98	the commissioner of higher education and the board on
99	99	implementation of this section. The board may assign to the
100	100	committee the responsibility for evaluating applications and
101	101	recommending to the commissioner applications for approval.
102	102	Sec. 61.96233. NEW PROFESSIONAL NURSING PROGRAMS. (a) The
103	103	board shall adopt rules for permitting newly established
104	104	professional nursing programs to participate in and receive grant
105	105	awards under the program established under this subchapter.
106	106	(b) The rules the board adopts under Subsection (a) must
107	107	include:
108	108	(1) a process for ensuring that newly established
109	109	professional nursing programs are treated equitably with
110	110	established programs in the award of grants under this subchapter;
111	111	and
112	112	(2) a method for calculating increases in enrollment
113	113	or graduates if grants are awarded based on such increases.
114	114	Sec. 61.9629. CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY OF PROGRAMS TO RECEIVE
115	115	GRANTS. Notwithstanding Section 61.9621, a professional nursing
116	116	program offered by an entity other than a public or private or
117	117	independent institution of higher education that was eligible to
118	118	receive grants from a program under this subchapter before
119	119	September 1, 2009, remains eligible to receive a grant from such a
120	120	program if the entity meets all criteria for a grant other than the
121	121	criterion of being a program offered by an institution of higher
122	122	education.
123	123	SECTION 4. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
124	124	may adopt initial rules for the administration of Sections 61.96232
125	125	and 61.96233, Education Code, as added by this Act, at the
126	126	coordinating board's first meeting after the effective date of this
127	127	Act. For that purpose, the coordinating board may adopt the rules
128	128	in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
129	129	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
130	130	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
131	131	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
132	132	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
133	133	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
134	134	______________________________ ______________________________
135	135	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
136	136	I certify that H.B. No. 4471 was passed by the House on April
137	137	23, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
138	138	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
139	139	No. 4471 on May 29, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0,
140	140	1 present, not voting.
141	141	______________________________
142	142	Chief Clerk of the House
143	143	I certify that H.B. No. 4471 was passed by the Senate, with
144	144	amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
145	145	0.
146	146	______________________________
147	147	Secretary of the Senate
148	148	APPROVED: __________________
149	149	Date
150	150	__________________
151	151	Governor