88R2211 MM-F
By: Kolkhorst, et al. S.B. No. 244
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to support for nursing-related postsecondary education
including the provision of loan repayment assistance to nursing
faculty and the provision of grants to nursing education programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.9822, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.9822. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to receive loan
repayment assistance under this subchapter, a nurse must:
(1) apply to the board;
(2) at the time of application for repayment
assistance have been employed part-time or full-time for at least
one year as, and be currently employed part-time or full-time as, a
faculty member of a nursing degree program at an institution of
higher education or a private or independent institution of higher
education; and
(3) comply with any additional requirements adopted by
board rule.
SECTION 2. Sections 61.9823(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) On qualifying for loan repayment assistance under this
subchapter, a nurse may receive repayment assistance for each year
of part-time or full-time employment as a faculty member of a
nursing degree program at an institution of higher education or
private or independent institution of higher education, not to
exceed five years.
(b) The board by rule shall determine the maximum amount of
loan repayment assistance received by a nurse under this subchapter
[may not exceed $7,000] in any one year. The board shall base the
amount of loan repayment assistance received by a nurse for
part-time employment on the proportion of the number of hours
worked by the nurse to the number of hours worked by a full-time
nurse.
SECTION 3. Sections 63.202(f) and (g), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(f) Notwithstanding the limitation provided by Subsection
(b), grants awarded under Subsection (c) for the state fiscal
biennium ending on August 31, 2025 [2021], and the fiscal biennium
ending on August 31, 2027 [2023], by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall be awarded to programs preparing students
for initial licensure as registered nurses or programs preparing
qualified faculty members with a master's or doctoral degree for
the program, including programs at two-year institutions of higher
education, four-year general academic teaching institutions,
health science centers, and independent or private institutions of
higher education, or to the nursing resource section established
under Section 105.002(b), Health and Safety Code. In awarding
grants under this subsection, the coordinating board may:
(1) give priority to institutions proposing to address
the shortage of registered nurses by promoting innovation in
education, recruitment, and retention of nursing students and
qualified faculty;
(2) award grants on a competitive basis;
(3) consider the availability of matching funds; and
(4) fund a study by the nursing resource section to
evaluate the competencies of clinical judgment and behaviors that
professional nursing students should possess at the time of
graduation.
(g) Subsection (f) and this subsection expire September 1,
2027 [2023].
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall adopt rules necessary to administer the changes in law made by
this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply beginning with
loan repayment assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61,
Education Code, for the 2024-2025 academic year. Loan repayment
assistance awarded under Subchapter JJ, Chapter 61, Education Code,
for an academic year before the 2024-2025 academic year is governed
by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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.