By: Hinojosa, Blanco, West S.B. No. 2059
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to grant programs established to support nursing education
and training.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter Z-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER Z-1. GRANT PROGRAMS SUPPORTING NURSING EDUCATION AND
TRAINING
Sec. 61.9641. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Clinical site" means an acute care or
rehabilitation facility, a primary care setting, a long-term care
facility, a nursing home, a residential care setting, or any other
site identified by the board as providing clinical learning
experiences for nursing students.
(2) "Nursing advisory committee" means the nursing
advisory committee established under Section 104.0155, Health and
Safety Code.
Sec. 61.9642. CLINICAL SITE NURSE PRECEPTOR GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) The board, in consultation with the nursing advisory
committee, shall establish and administer a program to award grants
to eligible clinical sites to support the use of nurse preceptors in
providing clinical training to nursing students.
(b) To be eligible for a grant under this section, a
clinical site must:
(1) provide clinical training to nursing students
through the use of one or more nurse preceptors;
(2) comply with any clinical site requirements
established by the board; and
(3) comply with any other requirements adopted by
board rule.
Sec. 61.9643. CLINICAL SITE INNOVATION AND COORDINATION
PROGRAM. The board shall establish and administer a program to
award grants to eligible clinical sites that create and operate
innovative pilot programs that will support nursing performed at
clinical sites in this state by increasing the number of nurses,
improving the working environment for nurses, improving the
retention of nurses, addressing workplace safety, and coordinating
with other clinical sites any solutions found to address common
nursing concerns.
Sec. 61.9644. NURSING FACULTY GRANT PROGRAM: PART-TIME
POSITIONS. (a) The board shall award grants under a nursing
faculty grant program to eligible institutions of higher education
to provide funding for qualified nursing staff working at clinical
sites who serve as part-time nursing faculty at those institutions.
(b) The amount of a grant and the number of grants to be
awarded must be based on the total number of nursing staff serving
as part-time faculty in institutions of higher education throughout
the state in the year for which the grant is awarded.
(c) A grant received under this section must be expended to
support the applicable nursing faculty positions, including the
faculty stipend.
(d) An institution of higher education must certify in the
grant application the number of unfilled faculty positions to which
the application applies and, after a grant is awarded, must certify
which of those positions have been filled before receipt of the
grant funds.
(e) The board shall prescribe the dates for the submission
of applications and the award of grants under this section to ensure
that a grant recipient has sufficient time to prepare for receipt
and effective use of the grant funds before the academic period for
which the grant is awarded.
(f) Grant amounts are awarded under this section for two
consecutive state fiscal years. The board may distribute a grant
amount for nursing faculty only on receiving the certification from
the institution of higher education that the applicable nurse
faculty position has been filled. For each first-year nursing
faculty position for which a clinical site receives an initial
grant amount in a state fiscal year, the board shall make available
an equal grant amount for the subsequent state fiscal year
contingent on filling the part-time nursing faculty positions
funded by the grant in that second year.
Sec. 61.9645. NURSING FACULTY GRANT PROGRAM: CLINICAL
TRAINING. (a) The board shall award grants under a nursing faculty
grant program to eligible clinical sites to provide funding for
qualified nursing faculty of institutions of higher education who
seek to obtain additional clinical training by working part-time at
a clinical site.
(b) The amount of a grant and the number of grants to be
awarded must be based on the total number of nursing faculty in
institutions of higher education throughout the state in the year
for which the grant is awarded.
Sec. 61.9646. FUNDS. (a) In consultation with the nursing
advisory committee, the board shall allocate funds appropriated for
purposes of this subchapter and any other funds received as
described by Subsection (b) as the board considers appropriate to
further the purposes of this subchapter.
(b) In addition to money appropriated by the legislature,
the board may solicit, accept, and spend gifts, grants, and
donations from any public or private source for the purposes of the
grant programs established under this subchapter.
Sec. 61.9647. RULES. In consultation with the nursing
advisory committee, the board shall adopt rules for the
administration of the grant programs established under this
subchapter. The rules must include:
(1) administrative provisions relating to the
awarding of grants under this subchapter, such as:
(A) eligibility criteria for clinical sites or
institutions of higher education, as applicable;
(B) grant application procedures;
(C) guidelines relating to grant amounts;
(D) procedures for evaluating grant
applications; and
(E) procedures for monitoring the use of grants;
and
(2) methods for tracking the effectiveness of grants
that:
(A) use data reasonably available to the board or
the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies; and
(B) evaluate transferability and scalability of
innovation programs.
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt rules for the implementation and administration of the
grant programs required by Subchapter Z-1, Chapter 61, Education
Code, as added by this Act. The board may adopt the initial rules in
the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2023, the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall establish the grant programs
required by Subchapter Z-1, Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by
this Act, and shall begin to award grants under those programs not
later than January 1, 2024.
SECTION 3. 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.