Bill Text: TX SB1394 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to eliminating certain restrictions on eligibility for certain state student financial assistance programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-18 - Referred to Higher Education [SB1394 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1394-Introduced.html

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87R8682 KJE-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1394

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to eliminating certain restrictions on eligibility for
certain state student financial assistance programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.633(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A scholarship awarded under this section terminates if
the student to whom the scholarship is awarded is[:
[(1) convicted of, or adjudicated as having engaged in
delinquent conduct constituting, an offense under Chapter 481,
Health and Safety Code; or
[(2)] convicted of, or adjudicated as having engaged
in delinquent conduct constituting, a felony or Class A
misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. Section 56.304(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a TEXAS grant if the
person has been convicted of a felony [or an offense under Chapter
481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or
under the law of another jurisdiction involving a controlled
substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code],
unless the person has met the other applicable eligibility
requirements under this subchapter and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise has been released
from the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this
subchapter.
SECTION 3. Section 56.305(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A person is not eligible to continue to receive a TEXAS
grant under this section if the person has been convicted of a
felony [or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code
(Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under the law of another
jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined by Chapter
481, Health and Safety Code], unless the person has met the other
applicable eligibility requirements under this subchapter and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise has been released
from the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this
subchapter.
SECTION 4. Section 56.357(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A person is not eligible to receive a grant under the
program if the person has been convicted of a felony [or an offense
under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled
Substances Act), or under the law of another jurisdiction involving
a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and
Safety Code], unless the person has met the other applicable
eligibility requirements under this section and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise has been released
from the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under the
program.
SECTION 5. Section 56.404(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A person is not eligible to receive a grant under this
subchapter if the person has been convicted of a felony [or an
offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled
Substances Act), or under the law of another jurisdiction involving
a controlled substance as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety
Code], unless the person has met the other applicable eligibility
requirements under this subchapter and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this
subchapter.
SECTION 6. Section 56.405(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A person is not eligible to continue to receive a grant
under this section if the person has been convicted of a felony [or
an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas
Controlled Substances Act), or under the law of another
jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined by Chapter
481, Health and Safety Code], unless the person has met the other
applicable eligibility requirements under this subchapter and has:
(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or
completed a period of probation ordered by a court and at least two
years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or
(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense
expunged from the person's record, or otherwise been released from
the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under this
subchapter.
SECTION 7. 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, 2021.