Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB518 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R1568 KJM-D
2	2	By: Kolkhorst H.B. No. 518
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a pilot program to provide student loan repayment
8	8	assistance to certain correctional officers who graduate from Sam
9	9	Houston State University or certain other institutions of higher
10	10	education.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
13	13	Subchapter FF to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER FF. CORRECTIONAL OFFICER LOAN REPAYMENT
15	15	ASSISTANCE PILOT PROGRAM
16	16	Sec. 61.9781. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
17	17	(1) "Correctional officer" means a correctional
18	18	officer employed in a confinement facility operated by the Texas
19	19	Department of Criminal Justice.
20	20	(2) "Trust fund" means the correctional officer loan
21	21	repayment assistance trust fund.
22	22	Sec. 61.9782. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. The board shall
23	23	establish a pilot program to provide, using money in the trust fund
24	24	and in accordance with this subchapter and rules of the board,
25	25	assistance in the repayment of student loans for correctional
26	26	officers who apply and qualify for the assistance.
27	27	Sec. 61.9783. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive
28	28	repayment assistance, a correctional officer must:
29	29	(1) have received a baccalaureate degree from Sam
30	30	Houston State University or from another general academic teaching
31	31	institution designated by board rule under Section 61.9789(b);
32	32	(2) establish to the board that:
33	33	(A) the repayment assistance will be used to
34	34	repay any part of a student loan received by the correctional
35	35	officer to cover tuition and fees required for enrollment in
36	36	junior-level or senior-level course work in the baccalaureate
37	37	degree program at the institution; and
38	38	(B) during the period of the correctional
39	39	officer's enrollment at the institution as described by Paragraph
40	40	(A), the officer:
41	41	(i) was employed full-time as a
42	42	correctional officer in this state;
43	43	(ii) was classified as a resident of this
44	44	state under Subchapter B, Chapter 54;
45	45	(iii) established financial need as
46	46	determined by board rule; and
47	47	(iv) maintained good academic standing at
48	48	the institution as determined by board rule;
49	49	(3) complete at least one full year of employment as a
50	50	full-time correctional officer in this state not later than the
51	51	second anniversary of the date of the person's graduation from the
52	52	institution; and
53	53	(4) comply with any other requirements adopted by
54	54	board rule under this subchapter.
55	55	Sec. 61.9784. ELIGIBLE LOANS. (a) The board may provide
56	56	repayment assistance for the repayment of any student loan received
57	57	by an eligible correctional officer through any lender for the
58	58	costs of tuition and fees at Sam Houston State University or at
59	59	another general academic teaching institution designated by board
60	60	rule under Section 61.9789(b).
61	61	(b) The board may withhold repayment assistance for a
62	62	student loan that is in default at the time of the correctional
63	63	officer's application.
64	64	(c) Subject to Sections 61.9785 and 61.9788, each state
65	65	fiscal biennium the board shall attempt to allocate all funds
66	66	available in the trust fund for the purpose of providing repayment
67	67	assistance under this subchapter.
68	68	Sec. 61.9785. REPAYMENT. (a) The board shall deliver any
69	69	repayment under this subchapter in a lump sum payable to the lender
70	70	and the correctional officer, in accordance with any applicable
71	71	federal law.
72	72	(b) A repayment under this subchapter may be applied to any
73	73	amount due in connection with the loan.
74	74	(c) The board may grant prior conditional approval to a
75	75	correctional officer who completes each eligibility requirement
76	76	under Section 61.9783 other than the requirement under Section
77	77	61.9783(3) and may reserve money in the trust fund for disbursement
78	78	under this subchapter on the officer's completion of that
79	79	requirement.
80	80	Sec. 61.9786. RULES. (a) The board shall adopt rules
81	81	necessary to administer this subchapter. The board may consult
82	82	with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to assist the board in
83	83	establishing priorities among eligible correctional officers for
84	84	repayment assistance.
85	85	(b) The board shall distribute to Sam Houston State
86	86	University, any general academic teaching institution designated
87	87	by board rule under Section 61.9789(b), each public junior college,
88	88	and appropriate state agencies and professional associations
89	89	copies of the rules adopted under this section and other pertinent
90	90	information relating to this subchapter.
91	91	Sec. 61.9787. AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE. (a) The loan
92	92	repayment amount for one year of full-time employment as a
93	93	correctional officer after graduation from Sam Houston State
94	94	University or from a general academic teaching institution
95	95	designated by board rule under Section 61.9789(b) may not exceed
96	96	the cost of the tuition and fees required for the officer to enroll
97	97	in 30 semester credit hours of junior-level or senior-level course
98	98	work at the institution, as applicable.
99	99	(b) The total amount of repayment assistance distributed by
100	100	the board under this subchapter may not exceed the total amount of
101	101	gifts and grants accepted by the board for repayment assistance,
102	102	legislative appropriations for repayment assistance, and other
103	103	funds available to the board for purposes of this subchapter.
104	104	Sec. 61.9788. TRUST FUND. (a) The board shall award
105	105	repayment assistance under this subchapter from the amount
106	106	available in the trust fund. The trust fund is established outside
107	107	the treasury but is held in trust by the comptroller. Money in the
108	108	trust fund may be spent without appropriation and only to fund the
109	109	pilot program. Interest and income from the assets of the trust
110	110	fund shall be credited to and deposited in the trust fund. In each
111	111	state fiscal year the board may spend from the trust fund to cover
112	112	the costs of administering this subchapter an amount not to exceed
113	113	2.5 percent of the total amount of money deposited into the trust
114	114	fund in that fiscal year.
115	115	(b) The board may solicit and accept gifts and grants from
116	116	any public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter and
117	117	shall deposit a gift or grant to the credit of the trust fund.
118	118	(c) The legislature may appropriate money to the trust fund.
119	119	Sec. 61.9789. EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The board
120	120	shall evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program established
121	121	under this subchapter and report the results of the evaluation to
122	122	the legislature not later than December 31 of each even-numbered
123	123	year.
124	124	(b) If the board determines that expansion of the program
125	125	would enhance the effectiveness of the program or improve the
126	126	board's ability to evaluate the program, the board by rule may
127	127	expand the program to include as eligible to receive repayment
128	128	assistance under Section 61.9783 a correctional officer who:
129	129	(1) received a baccalaureate degree from a general
130	130	academic teaching institution other than Sam Houston State
131	131	University designated by the board that is located near a
132	132	confinement facility operated by the Texas Department of Criminal
133	133	Justice; and
134	134	(2) meets all other eligibility requirements
135	135	prescribed by or adopted under Section 61.9783.
136	136	(c) If the board by rule expands the program under
137	137	Subsection (b), the board shall include in the report under
138	138	Subsection (a) information regarding the effectiveness of the
139	139	expansion and the name of each general academic teaching
140	140	institution included in the program.
141	141	Sec. 61.9790. TERMINATION OF PILOT PROGRAM. The board may
142	142	not award repayment assistance under this subchapter to pay the
143	143	costs of enrollment in an academic year after the 2015-2016
144	144	academic year. On January 1, 2019, the trust fund is abolished and
145	145	any amount remaining in the trust fund shall be transferred to the
146	146	general revenue fund.
147	147	SECTION 2. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
148	148	shall adopt the rules for repayment assistance under Subchapter FF,
149	149	Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than
150	150	December 1, 2009.
151	151	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
152	152	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
153	153	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
154	154	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
155	155	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.