H.B. No. 2026
AN ACT
relating to the Rural Veterinarian Incentive Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 56.101(7), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(7) "Rural county" means a county in this state with a
population of less than 150,000 [100,000].
SECTION 2. 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 3. 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 4. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2026 was passed by the House on May 2,
2023, by the following vote: Yeas 112, Nays 33, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 2026 on May 23, 2023, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 2026 on May 28, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 118,
Nays 26, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2026 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 18, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
4; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2026 on May 27, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 4.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor