Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1163 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R10468 MM-F
2	2	By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1163
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the student loan program administered by the Texas
8	8	Higher Education Coordinating Board and to the repeal of a related
9	9	bond program.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 52.11(c), (d), (h), (k), and (n),
12	12	Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(c) The proceeds from the sale of bonds shall be placed in
14	14	the student loan auxiliary fund [Texas Opportunity Plan Fund].
15	15	(d) To assure the orderly and economical marketing of the
16	16	bonds and the reasonable availability of money in the student loan
17	17	auxiliary fund [Texas Opportunity Plan Fund], the bonds may be
18	18	issued in installments.
19	19	(h) The bonds shall be executed on behalf of the
20	20	coordinating board, or its successor, as general obligations of the
21	21	State of Texas [in the following manner: They shall be signed by
22	22	the chairman or vice chairman and the secretary of the board, and
23	23	the seal of the board shall be impressed on them. They shall be
24	24	signed by the governor and attested by the secretary of state and
25	25	the state seal impressed on them. The resolution authorizing the
26	26	issuance of any installment or series of bonds may prescribe the
27	27	extent to which facsimile signatures and facsimile seals may be
28	28	used in executing the bonds and appurtenant coupons. Interest
29	29	coupons may be signed with the facsimile signatures of the chairman
30	30	or vice chairman and the secretary of the board. In the event any
31	31	officer whose manual or facsimile signature appears on any bond or
32	32	coupon ceases to hold that office before the delivery of the bond or
33	33	coupon, the signature will nevertheless be valid and sufficient for
34	34	all purposes as if he had remained in office until the delivery had
35	35	been made].
36	36	(k) The performance of official duties prescribed by
37	37	Sections 50b-4, 50b-5, 50b-6, and 50b-7, Article III, [Section 50b,
38	38	of the] Texas Constitution, in reference to the provision for the
39	39	payment and the payment of the bonds may be enforced in any court of
40	40	competent jurisdiction through mandamus or other appropriate
41	41	proceedings.
42	42	(n) This section applies only to bonds issued under Sections
43	43	50b-4, 50b-5, 50b-6, and 50b-7, Article III, [Section 50b, of the]
44	44	Texas Constitution.
45	45	SECTION 2. Section 52.16, Education Code, is amended to
46	46	read as follows:
47	47	Sec. 52.16. PROCEEDS FROM BOND SALE. All proceeds from the
48	48	sale of bonds authorized by Sections 50b-4, 50b-5, 50b-6, and
49	49	50b-7, Article III, [Section 50b, 50b-1, or 50b-2 of the] Texas
50	50	Constitution, shall be deposited in the state treasury in the
51	51	student loan auxiliary fund [Texas Opportunity Plan Fund].
52	52	SECTION 3. Section 52.32(a), Education Code, is amended to
53	53	read as follows:
54	54	(a) The board may authorize loans from the Texas Opportunity
55	55	Plan Fund or the student loan auxiliary fund to a qualified
56	56	applicant who:
57	57	(1) is a resident of this state as defined by the board
58	58	in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 54;
59	59	(2) has been accepted for enrollment at a
60	60	participating higher educational institution[, provided that if
61	61	the institution is a public or private postsecondary educational
62	62	institution, the institution must be approved by an agency of the
63	63	United States government for the purpose of guaranteeing the maker
64	64	of such loans against loss due to the death, disability, or default
65	65	of the borrower];
66	66	(3) has established that the student has insufficient
67	67	resources to finance the student's college education or alternative
68	68	educator certification program;
69	69	(4) has submitted to the board at least two
70	70	references, including the names of the persons giving those
71	71	references and appropriate contact information for those persons;
72	72	and
73	73	(5) has complied with other requirements established
74	74	by the rules adopted by the board in conformity with this chapter.
75	75	SECTION 4. Section 52.33, Education Code, is amended to
76	76	read as follows:
77	77	Sec. 52.33. AMOUNT OF LOAN. The amount of the loan to any
78	78	qualified applicant shall be limited to the difference between the
79	79	financial resources available to the applicant, including [but not
80	80	limited to] the applicant's [income from parents and other
81	81	sources,] scholarships, gifts, grants, and other financial aid,
82	82	[and the amount the applicant can reasonably be expected to earn,]
83	83	and the amount necessary to pay the applicant's reasonable expenses
84	84	as a student at the participating institution of higher education
85	85	where the applicant has been accepted for enrollment, under the
86	86	rules and regulations adopted by the board. The total loan to any
87	87	individual student may never be more than the amount the student can
88	88	reasonably be expected to repay in the maximum loan period provided
89	89	by board rule, except as otherwise provided for in this chapter.
90	90	SECTION 5. Sections 52.34(a) and (f), Education Code, are
91	91	amended to read as follows:
92	92	(a) No payment may be made to any student until the student
93	93	has executed a note payable to the Texas Opportunity Plan Fund or
94	94	the student loan auxiliary fund for the full amount of the
95	95	authorized loan plus interest.
96	96	(f) The board shall distribute money to a participating
97	97	institution through the current statewide accounting system
98	98	[electronic funds transfer system maintained by the Texas
99	99	Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation for disbursing loan funds from
100	100	commercial lenders participating in the guaranteed student loan
101	101	program under Chapter 57, except that at the request of a
102	102	participating institution the board may distribute the money
103	103	through other means. The board shall enter into a contract with the
104	104	corporation for the use of the system, and the corporation shall
105	105	make the system available to the board as necessary to carry out
106	106	this subsection].
107	107	SECTION 6. Section 52.38, Education Code, is amended to
108	108	read as follows:
109	109	Sec. 52.38. REPAYMENT OF LOANS. Repayment of any loan and
110	110	interest authorized under this chapter shall be made monthly and
111	111	shall begin not later than nine months after the date the student
112	112	borrower is last enrolled in a participating institution or any
113	113	other institution of higher education [and in no event later than
114	114	five years from the date the first note evidencing a loan under this
115	115	chapter is executed]. The board may, however, authorize a longer
116	116	period before beginning repayment of loans to medical students,
117	117	dental students, and other students seeking professional or
118	118	graduate degrees. The board may extend the time for beginning
119	119	repayment for unusual financial hardships, with the approval of the
120	120	attorney general. Repayment shall be made directly to the board [or
121	121	to a participating institution] pursuant to a contract executed by
122	122	the board in accordance with its rules and regulations.
123	123	SECTION 7. The heading to Section 52.41, Education Code, is
124	124	amended to read as follows:
125	125	Sec. 52.41. SERVICING [RESTRICTION ON ISSUANCE] OF CERTAIN
126	126	FEDERALLY INSURED STUDENT LOANS.
127	127	SECTION 8. Section 52.41(b), Education Code, is amended to
128	128	read as follows:
129	129	(b) The board may service any outstanding student loans
130	130	issued by the board under the Federal Family Education Loan Program
131	131	authorized under Part B, Title IV, of the Higher Education Act of
132	132	1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1071 et seq.).
133	133	SECTION 9. Section 52.53, Education Code, is amended to
134	134	read as follows:
135	135	Sec. 52.53. GIFTS AND GRANTS. The board may accept gifts,
136	136	grants, or donations of real or personal property from any
137	137	individual, group, association, or corporation or the United
138	138	States, subject to limitations or conditions set by law. The board
139	139	shall deposit gifts, grants, or donations of money [in the Texas
140	140	Opportunity Plan Fund or] in the student loan auxiliary fund and
141	141	shall separately account for and expend the funds in accordance
142	142	with the specific purpose for which given and under such conditions
143	143	as are imposed by the donor and as provided by law.
144	144	SECTION 10. Section 52.541(a), Education Code, is amended
145	145	to read as follows:
146	146	(a) The board shall establish separate accounting within
147	147	the Texas Opportunity Plan Fund and the student loan auxiliary fund
148	148	for each of its existing loan programs[, including accounting for
149	149	the federally insured loans that are insured by the United States
150	150	Department of Education, the federally insured loans that are
151	151	insured by the United States Department of Health and Human
152	152	Services, and each loan program that consists of loans insured by
153	153	the State of Texas].
154	154	SECTION 11. The following provisions of the Education Code
155	155	are repealed:
156	156	(1) Sections 52.32(a-1) and (b);
157	157	(2) Section 52.40;
158	158	(3) Sections 52.41(a) and (c); and
159	159	(4) Subchapter E, Chapter 52.
160	160	SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.