84R10764 KSD-D
By: Turner of Tarrant H.B. No. 2624
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the effects of default on a student loan administered by
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on renewal of certain
licenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 52, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 52.42 to read as follows:
Sec. 52.42. LOAN DEFAULT GROUND FOR NONRENEWAL OF
PROFESSIONAL OR OCCUPATIONAL LICENSE. (a) In this section:
(1) "License" means a certificate or similar form of
permission issued or renewed by a licensing agency and required by
law to engage in a profession or occupation.
(2) "Licensee" means a person to whom a licensing
agency issues a license.
(3) "Licensing agency" means a board, commission,
department, or other agency in the executive branch of state
government that issues or renews a license. The term does not
include the State Securities Board.
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
identify the licensing agencies subject to this section and provide
written notice to those agencies of the requirements prescribed by
this section. Only those licensing agencies that the board
identifies and that receive such notice are required to carry out
this section.
(c) Annually, each licensing agency shall prepare a list of
the agency's licensees and submit the list to the board in hard copy
or electronic form. Using the submitted lists, the board
periodically shall:
(1) identify the licensees on the list who are in
default on loans administered by the board; and
(2) provide a list of those licensees to the
appropriate licensing agencies in hard copy or electronic form.
(d) A person who is in default on a loan administered by the
board may enter into an agreement with the board for repayment of
the defaulted loan. The board shall provide the person with a
certificate certifying that the person has entered a repayment
agreement on the defaulted loan.
(e) A licensing agency may not renew the license of a
licensee on the list provided by the board under Subsection (c)(2)
unless the licensee presents to the agency a certificate issued by
the board certifying that:
(1) the licensee has entered into a repayment
agreement with the board on the defaulted loan; or
(2) the licensee is not in default on a loan
administered by the board.
(f) A licensing agency may not renew the license of a
licensee who defaults on a repayment agreement unless the licensee
presents to the agency a certificate issued by the board certifying
that:
(1) the licensee has entered into another repayment
agreement with the board on the defaulted loan; or
(2) the licensee is not in default on a loan
administered by the board or on a repayment agreement.
(g) A licensing agency shall provide written notice of the
nonrenewal policies established by Subsections (e) and (f) to each
applicant for a license or for renewal of a license. The board
shall provide written notice of those policies on each loan
application form provided by the board and on each promissory note
signed by a borrower. Failure to provide the notice required by
this subsection does not affect the default status of a borrower or
the prohibitions on renewal of a license held by a person in
default.
(h) A licensing agency shall provide an opportunity for a
hearing to a licensee before the agency takes action concerning the
nonrenewal of a license under this section.
(i) Each licensing agency shall adopt any rules necessary to
carry out the licensing agency's duties under this section.
(j) The board by rule shall establish procedures to carry
out the board's duties under this section.
SECTION 2. Section 82.022, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The supreme court may adopt rules relating to the
nonrenewal of the license of a lawyer who is in default on a loan
administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under
Chapter 52, Education Code.
SECTION 3. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt rules for the administration of Section 52.42,
Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after
this Act takes effect. For that purpose, the coordinating board may
adopt the initial rules in the manner provided by law for emergency
rules.
SECTION 4. In consultation with the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, each licensing agency subject to Section 52.42,
Education Code, as added by this Act, shall adopt any rules
necessary to carry out the licensing agency's duties under that
section as soon as practicable following the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.