88R12455 JRJ-F
By: Darby, Raney, González of El Paso, H.B. No. 2026
Stucky, Rogers, et al.
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2026:
By: Kuempel C.S.H.B. No. 2026
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Rural Veterinarian Incentive Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 56.101(2) and (7), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(2) "College" means a college of veterinary medicine
[located in this state and] accredited by the American Veterinary
Medical Association Council on Education.
(7) "Rural county" means a county in this state with a
population of less than 150,000 [100,000].
SECTION 2. Section 56.103(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The committee shall adopt rules:
(1) establishing criteria to determine whether a
person is an eligible participant as the committee considers
reasonable, including the person's:
(A) background and interest in rural practice;
and
(B) financial need;
(2) providing for requesting the distribution of money
from the account for the program;
(3) establishing the criteria necessary for a
community or political subdivision in a rural county to qualify as a
student sponsor under Section 56.105;
(4) governing agreements of financial support between
a rural sponsor and an eligible student;
(5) establishing preferential treatment in the
selection process for applicants who:
(A) are residents of this state;
(B) graduated from a high school located in this
state or general academic teaching institution located in this
state; or
(C) graduated from an accredited college of
veterinary medicine in this state; and
(6) [(5)] establishing other procedures necessary to
administer the program.
SECTION 3. Section 56.104, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 56.104. ELIGIBLE VETERINARY STUDENT OR GRADUATE. A
[(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a] person is eligible to
participate in the program only if the person:
(1) is enrolled as a student of a [the] college or
applies to participate in the program on or before the fourth
anniversary of the date the person graduates from a [the] college;
(2) will receive or has received from a student loan at
least 50 percent of the funds for tuition and fees for one or more
academic years while enrolled in the college; and
(3) meets any additional qualifications adopted by the
committee.
[(b) A person enrolled as a student in an accredited college
of veterinary medicine located outside of this state may apply
under Subsection (a) to participate in the program if the student
graduated from a high school located in this state or a general
academic teaching institution located in this state.]
SECTION 4. Section 56.105(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) To participate as a sponsor in the program, the
community or political subdivision must enter into an agreement
with the eligible participant to provide financial support to the
eligible participant in an amount not less than the tuition and fees
required for a full academic year for a student enrolled in a [the]
college in exchange for the eligible participant's agreement to
practice veterinary medicine in the sponsoring community or
political subdivision.
SECTION 5. Sections 56.106(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) To participate in the program, an eligible participant
must enter into an agreement with the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board [university system] that:
(1) requires the participant to practice veterinary
medicine in a rural county for one calendar year for each academic
year for which the participant receives financial support under the
program;
(2) specifies the conditions the participant must
satisfy to receive financial support under the program;
(3) provides that any financial support the
participant receives under the program constitutes a loan until the
participant satisfies the conditions of the agreement; and
(4) requires the participant to sign a promissory note
acknowledging the conditional nature of the financial support
received under the program and promising to repay the amount of the
financial support, any applicable interest, and reasonable
collection costs if the participant does not satisfy the conditions
of the agreement.
(b) The financial support received by an eligible
participant under this subchapter must be used to retire student
loan debt or to pay tuition and fees to a college [the university
system] while the eligible participant is enrolled in the college.
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, 2023.