By: Kolkhorst, et al. S.B. No. 25
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2023; March 13, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
March 27, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; March 27, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to support for nursing-related postsecondary education,
including scholarships to nursing students, loan repayment
assistance to nurses and nursing faculty, and grants to nursing
education programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.655, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.655. PURPOSE; ELIGIBILITY. (a) A scholarship
program[, matching fund program,] or loan repayment program
established under this subchapter shall be established and
administered in a manner that the board determines best promotes
the health care and educational needs of this state.
(b) The board may establish multiple categories of persons
to receive scholarships[, matching funds,] and loan repayments.
The board may include faculty from professional nursing programs
with master's degrees or doctorates among the categories of persons
authorized to receive loan repayments.
(c) Each year funds are available, the board shall establish
the categories of persons eligible to receive scholarships[,
matching funds,] and loan repayments and the criteria for selecting
persons to be assisted under each category. The criteria may
include:
(1) scholastic ability and performance;
(2) financial need;
(3) the geographical area in which the person is
likely to practice;
(4) whether the person receives Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families [Aid to Families with Dependent Children] or
participates in another public welfare program;
(5) employment by a state agency;
(6) employment on a nursing school faculty or a
person's intention to seek employment on a nursing school faculty;
(7) whether the person is practicing in a geographical
area, a practice setting, or an area of practice with an acute
nursing shortage or is likely to practice in such an area;
(8) the type of certificate or academic degree held or
pursued; or
(9) any additional factors the board considers
relevant to promoting the health care and educational needs of the
state.
SECTION 2. Section 61.656(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The board shall distribute information about the
scholarship program[, matching fund program,] and loan repayment
program established under this subchapter to:
(1) employers of registered nurses or licensed
vocational nurses;
(2) associations of employers;
(3) schools and educational programs for registered
nurses or licensed vocational nurses; and
(4) professional associations of registered nurses or
licensed vocational nurses.
SECTION 3. Section 61.658(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The board may structure the scholarship program[, the
matching fund program,] and the loan repayment program established
under this subchapter to secure funds available under federal
matching programs.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 6. 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 7. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Sections 61.653 and 61.657; and
(2) Section 61.656(c).
SECTION 8. (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 9. 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.
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