| 1 | 1 | | By: Burns H.B. No. 4605 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the establishment of the Texas Leadership Scholars |
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| 7 | 7 | | Program to serve as a merit-based scholarship and leadership |
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| 8 | 8 | | opportunity for high-achieving, emerging leaders with financial |
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| 9 | 9 | | need. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding |
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| 12 | 12 | | Subchapter N to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SUBCHAPTER N. TEXAS LEADERSHIP SCHOLARS PROGRAM |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 61.751. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "program" |
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| 15 | 15 | | means the Texas Leadership Scholars Program established under this |
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| 16 | 16 | | subchapter. |
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| 17 | 17 | | Sec. 61.752. INITIATIVE: ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION; |
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| 18 | 18 | | PURPOSE. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (a) The Texas Leadership Scholars Program is established. |
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| 20 | 20 | | (b) The board shall establish and administer, using funds |
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| 21 | 21 | | appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, scholarships |
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| 22 | 22 | | for high-achieving, low-income students, and academic achievement |
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| 23 | 23 | | support and leadership development for student awarded program |
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| 24 | 24 | | scholarships. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (c) To qualify for a scholarship under this section, a |
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| 26 | 26 | | student must: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) be eligible for automatic admission in a general |
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| 28 | 28 | | academic teaching institution pursuant to Section 51.803 or be |
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| 29 | 29 | | nominated by their school district and have achieved another |
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| 30 | 30 | | academic distinction recognized by the Board; and |
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| 31 | 31 | | (2) be considered economically disadvantaged as |
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| 32 | 32 | | determined by board rule; and |
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| 33 | 33 | | (3) maintain a minimum overall grade point average at |
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| 34 | 34 | | a general academic teaching institution as determined by board |
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| 35 | 35 | | rule. |
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| 36 | 36 | | (d) The board may enter into agreements with general |
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| 37 | 37 | | academic teaching institutions or other agencies of higher |
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| 38 | 38 | | education to provide students in the program with research-based |
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| 39 | 39 | | support to make satisfactory academic progress, graduate on-time |
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| 40 | 40 | | and engage in leadership development opportunities, including but |
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| 41 | 41 | | not limited to program cohort learning communities, mentoring, |
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| 42 | 42 | | research and internship opportunities, networking with state |
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| 43 | 43 | | government, business, and civic leaders, and statewide cohort |
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| 44 | 44 | | learning institutes or seminars. |
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| 45 | 45 | | Sec. 61.753. GRANTS, GIFTS, AND DONATIONS. The board may |
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| 46 | 46 | | solicit, accept, and spend grants, gifts, and donations from any |
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| 47 | 47 | | public or private source for the purposes of this subchapter. |
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| 48 | 48 | | Sec. 61.754. RULES. The board shall adopt rules for the |
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| 49 | 49 | | administration of this subchapter, including rules providing for |
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| 50 | 50 | | the determination of scholarship amount, student scholarship |
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| 51 | 51 | | eligibility, satisfactory academic progress criteria, and program |
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| 52 | 52 | | administration. |
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| 53 | 53 | | SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating |
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| 54 | 54 | | Board shall adopt rules to administer Subchapter N, Chapter 61, |
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| 55 | 55 | | Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after |
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| 56 | 56 | | the effective date of this Act. |
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| 57 | 57 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 58 | 58 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 59 | 59 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 60 | 60 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 61 | 61 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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