81R1568 KJM-D
By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 518
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a pilot program to provide student loan repayment
assistance to certain correctional officers who graduate from Sam
Houston State University or certain other institutions of higher
education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter FF to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER FF. CORRECTIONAL OFFICER LOAN REPAYMENT
ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM
Sec. 61.9781. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Correctional officer" means a correctional
officer employed in a confinement facility operated by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice.
(2) "Trust fund" means the correctional officer loan
repayment assistance trust fund.
Sec. 61.9782. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. The board shall
establish a pilot program to provide, using money in the trust fund
and in accordance with this subchapter and rules of the board,
assistance in the repayment of student loans for correctional
officers who apply and qualify for the assistance.
Sec. 61.9783. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive
repayment assistance, a correctional officer must:
(1) have received a baccalaureate degree from Sam
Houston State University or from another general academic teaching
institution designated by board rule under Section 61.9789(b);
(2) establish to the board that:
(A) the repayment assistance will be used to
repay any part of a student loan received by the correctional
officer to cover tuition and fees required for enrollment in
junior-level or senior-level course work in the baccalaureate
degree program at the institution; and
(B) during the period of the correctional
officer's enrollment at the institution as described by Paragraph
(A), the officer:
(i) was employed full-time as a
correctional officer in this state;
(ii) was classified as a resident of this
state under Subchapter B, Chapter 54;
(iii) established financial need as
determined by board rule; and
(iv) maintained good academic standing at
the institution as determined by board rule;
(3) complete at least one full year of employment as a
full-time correctional officer in this state not later than the
second anniversary of the date of the person's graduation from the
institution; and
(4) comply with any other requirements adopted by
board rule under this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9784. ELIGIBLE LOANS. (a) The board may provide
repayment assistance for the repayment of any student loan received
by an eligible correctional officer through any lender for the
costs of tuition and fees at Sam Houston State University or at
another general academic teaching institution designated by board
rule under Section 61.9789(b).
(b) The board may withhold repayment assistance for a
student loan that is in default at the time of the correctional
officer's application.
(c) Subject to Sections 61.9785 and 61.9788, each state
fiscal biennium the board shall attempt to allocate all funds
available in the trust fund for the purpose of providing repayment
assistance under this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9785. REPAYMENT. (a) The board shall deliver any
repayment under this subchapter in a lump sum payable to the lender
and the correctional officer, in accordance with any applicable
federal law.
(b) A repayment under this subchapter may be applied to any
amount due in connection with the loan.
(c) The board may grant prior conditional approval to a
correctional officer who completes each eligibility requirement
under Section 61.9783 other than the requirement under Section
61.9783(3) and may reserve money in the trust fund for disbursement
under this subchapter on the officer's completion of that
requirement.
Sec. 61.9786. RULES. (a) The board shall adopt rules
necessary to administer this subchapter. The board may consult
with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to assist the board in
establishing priorities among eligible correctional officers for
repayment assistance.
(b) The board shall distribute to Sam Houston State
University, any general academic teaching institution designated
by board rule under Section 61.9789(b), each public junior college,
and appropriate state agencies and professional associations
copies of the rules adopted under this section and other pertinent
information relating to this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9787. AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE. (a) The loan
repayment amount for one year of full-time employment as a
correctional officer after graduation from Sam Houston State
University or from a general academic teaching institution
designated by board rule under Section 61.9789(b) may not exceed
the cost of the tuition and fees required for the officer to enroll
in 30 semester credit hours of junior-level or senior-level course
work at the institution, as applicable.
(b) The total amount of repayment assistance distributed by
the board under this subchapter may not exceed the total amount of
gifts and grants accepted by the board for repayment assistance,
legislative appropriations for repayment assistance, and other
funds available to the board for purposes of this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9788. TRUST FUND. (a) The board shall award
repayment assistance under this subchapter from the amount
available in the trust fund. The trust fund is established outside
the treasury but is held in trust by the comptroller. Money in the
trust fund may be spent without appropriation and only to fund the
pilot program. Interest and income from the assets of the trust
fund shall be credited to and deposited in the trust fund. In each
state fiscal year the board may spend from the trust fund to cover
the costs of administering this subchapter an amount not to exceed
2.5 percent of the total amount of money deposited into the trust
fund in that fiscal year.
(b) The board may solicit and accept gifts and grants from
any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter and
shall deposit a gift or grant to the credit of the trust fund.
(c) The legislature may appropriate money to the trust fund.
Sec. 61.9789. EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The board
shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program established
under this subchapter and report the results of the evaluation to
the legislature not later than December 31 of each even-numbered
year.
(b) If the board determines that expansion of the program
would enhance the effectiveness of the program or improve the
board's ability to evaluate the program, the board by rule may
expand the program to include as eligible to receive repayment
assistance under Section 61.9783 a correctional officer who:
(1) received a baccalaureate degree from a general
academic teaching institution other than Sam Houston State
University designated by the board that is located near a
confinement facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice; and
(2) meets all other eligibility requirements
prescribed by or adopted under Section 61.9783.
(c) If the board by rule expands the program under
Subsection (b), the board shall include in the report under
Subsection (a) information regarding the effectiveness of the
expansion and the name of each general academic teaching
institution included in the program.
Sec. 61.9790. TERMINATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. The board may
not award repayment assistance under this subchapter to pay the
costs of enrollment in an academic year after the 2015-2016
academic year. On January 1, 2019, the trust fund is abolished and
any amount remaining in the trust fund shall be transferred to the
general revenue fund.
SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt the rules for repayment assistance under Subchapter FF,
Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
December 1, 2009.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.