By: Garcia S.B. No. 1858
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to programs in public schools designed to facilitate
planning and saving for higher education and facilitate personal
financial literacy instruction.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0024 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0024. SCHOOL-BASED SAVINGS PROGRAM. (a) A school
district or open-enrollment charter school may establish a
school-based savings program to facilitate increased awareness of
the importance of saving for higher education and facilitate
personal financial literacy instruction. A district or school may
offer the program in conjunction with a person financial literacy
course under Section 28.0021.
(b) A school-based savings program may, through
partnerships with financial institutions, as defined by Section
201.101, Finance Code, promote:
(1) general savings, by offering savings accounts or
certificates of deposit through partner financial institutions; or
(2) savings dedicated for higher education, by offering
accounts through partner financial institutions that are dedicated
exclusively to paying expenses associated with higher education,
including:
(A) an account authorized under Section 529, Internal
Revenue Code of 1986;
(B) a Coverdell education savings account established
under 26 U.S.C. Section 530;
(C) a certificate of deposit;
(D) a savings account; and
(E) a Roth IRA.
(c) A district or school establishing a program under this
section shall seek to establish partnerships with financial
institutions, public sector partners, private businesses,
nonprofit organizations, or philanthropic organizations in the
community. A partnership between a district or school and:
(1) a financial institution may allow a student in the
program or another adult in the student's family to have an
opportunity to establish an account described under
Subsection (b); and
(2) a financial institution, public sector partner, private
business, or nonprofit or philanthropic organization may provide:
(A) a structure for the management of the program; and
(B) incentives that encourage contribution to a
school-based account under Subsection (b), including incentives
that provide matching funds or seed funding.
SECTION 2. Section 56.007, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.007. EXCLUSION OF ASSETS IN PREPAID TUITION
PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS. Notwithstanding any
other law, the right of a person to assets held in or the right to
receive payments or benefits under any fund, school-based account,
or plan established under Section 28.0024(b)(2) up to the amount of
the highest cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required
fees for a 30-semester hour academic year at a Texas public college
or university or Subchapter G, H, or I, Chapter 54, including an
interest in a savings trust account, prepaid tuition account, or
related matching account, may not be considered an asset of the
person, or otherwise included in the person's household income or
other financial resources, for purposes of determining the person's
eligibility for a TEXAS grant or any other state-funded student
financial assistance.
SECTION 3. Section 31.0039, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 31.0039. EXCLUSION OF ASSETS IN PREPAID TUITION
PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS. For purposes of
determining the amount of financial assistance granted to an
individual under this chapter for the support of dependent children
or determining whether the family meets household income and
resource requirements for financial assistance under this chapter,
the department may not consider the right to assets held in or the
right to receive payments or benefits under:
(1) any fund, school-based account, or plan established
under Section 28.0024(b)(2), Education Code, up to the amount of
the highest cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required
fees for a 30-semester hour academic year at a Texas public college
or university. or Subchapter G, H, or I, Chapter 54, Education
Code, including an interest in a savings trust account, prepaid
tuition contract, or related matching account; or
(2) any qualified tuition program of any state that meets
the requirements of Section 529, Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 33.0291 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.0291. EXCLUSION OF SCHOOL-BASED ACCOUNTS. For
purposes of determining whether a person meets family income and
resource requirements for eligibility for the supplemental
nutrition assistance program, the commission may not consider as
income or resources a right to assets held in or a right to receive
payments or benefits under a school-based account established under
Section 28.0024(b)(2), Education Code up to the amount of the
highest cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required fees
for a 30-semester hour academic year at a Texas public college or
university.
SECTION 5. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 6. 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, 2015.