89R9472 KJE-D
By: Simmons H.B. No. 2476
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a grant program for living expenses for certain
students enrolled at public institutions of higher education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter W to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER W. LIVING EXPENSES GRANT PROGRAM
Sec. 56.701. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Grant program" means the grant program
established under this subchapter.
(2) "Student who is homeless" has the meaning assigned
by Section 5.001 and includes a student who resides in a student
housing facility maintained by an institution of higher education
during an academic term but who is homeless between academic terms.
Sec. 56.702. PURPOSE. The purpose of the grant program is
to provide for the cost of living expenses for certain students
enrolled at institutions of higher education.
Sec. 56.703. ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATION. The
comptroller shall establish and administer a grant program to
provide grants for the cost of living expenses to eligible
students.
Sec. 56.704. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible for a grant under
the grant program for an academic year, a student must be:
(1) either:
(A) a student who is homeless; or
(B) a minor whose disabilities of minority have
been removed under Chapter 31, Family Code; and
(2) enrolled at an institution of higher education.
Sec. 56.705. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY. Each
institution of higher education shall:
(1) assess the eligibility for the grant program under
Section 56.704(1) of each applicant who is offered admission to the
institution; and
(2) notify the comptroller of each applicant the
institution determines to be eligible under Subdivision (1).
Sec. 56.706. AMOUNT OF GRANT. (a) The comptroller shall
award a grant to each eligible student in the amount necessary to
pay the cost of the student's housing, food, and other living
expenses during the student's enrollment at the institution of
higher education for the applicable year.
(b) An eligible student is entitled to the full amount of a
grant under this section regardless of whether the student is
enrolled in a course for a summer term of the academic year for
which the grant is awarded.
Sec. 56.707. USE OF GRANT. A grant may be used only for the
cost of the eligible student's housing, food, and other living
expenses during the student's enrollment at the institution of
higher education for the applicable year.
Sec. 56.708. EFFECT OF GRANT ON OTHER AID. Notwithstanding
any other law, the amount of a grant awarded under the grant program
may not be considered in determining the amount of another grant,
scholarship, or other aid to which the student is entitled under
this chapter or another provision of this code.
Sec. 56.709. RULES. The comptroller, in consultation with
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall adopt rules as
necessary to administer the grant program.
SECTION 2. (a) The comptroller of public accounts, in
consultation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,
shall adopt rules to administer Subchapter W, Chapter 56, Education
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the
effective date of this Act.
(b) The comptroller of public accounts shall begin awarding
grants to eligible students under Subchapter W, Chapter 56,
Education Code, as added by this Act, for the first academic year
for which money is appropriated for that purpose, except that the
coordinating board may not allocate funds under that subchapter for
an academic year before the 2026-2027 academic year.
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, 2025.