H.B. No. 3987
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to programs in public schools designed to facilitate
  planning and saving for higher education and facilitate personal
  financial literacy instruction.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 28.0024 to read as follows:
         Sec. 28.0024.  SCHOOL-BASED SAVINGS PROGRAM. (a)  A school
  district or open-enrollment charter school may establish a
  school-based savings program to facilitate increased awareness of
  the importance of saving for higher education and facilitate
  personal financial literacy instruction.  A district or school may
  offer the program in conjunction with a personal financial literacy
  course under Section 28.0021.
         (b)  A school-based savings program may, through
  partnerships with appropriate institutions, promote:
               (1)  general savings, by offering savings accounts or
  certificates of deposit through partner financial institutions; or
               (2)  savings dedicated for higher education, by
  offering through partner institutions the following accounts or
  bonds the primary purpose of which must be to pay expenses
  associated with higher education:
                     (A)  an account authorized under Section 529,
  Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
                     (B)  a Coverdell education savings account
  established under 26 U.S.C. Section 530;
                     (C)  a certificate of deposit;
                     (D)  a savings account; and
                     (E)  a Series I savings bond.
         (c)  A district or school establishing a program under this
  section:
               (1)  shall seek to establish partnerships with
  appropriate institutions that are able to offer an account or bond
  under Subsection (b); and
               (2)  may seek to establish partnerships with public
  sector partners, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and
  philanthropic organizations in the community.
         (d)  A partnership established under Subsection (c) between
  a district or school and:
               (1)  an appropriate institution may allow a student in
  the program or the student and an adult in the student's family
  jointly to have an opportunity to establish an account or purchase a
  bond under Subsection (b); and
               (2)  an appropriate institution, public sector
  partner, private business, or nonprofit or philanthropic
  organization may provide:
                     (A)  a structure for the management of the
  program; and
                     (B)  incentives that encourage contribution to a
  school-based account or purchase of a bond under Subsection (b),
  including incentives that provide matching funds or seed funding.
         SECTION 2.  Section 56.007, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 56.007.  EXCLUSION OF ASSETS IN PREPAID TUITION
  PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS.  (a)  Notwithstanding
  any other law, the right of a person to assets held in or the right
  to receive payments or benefits under any fund or plan established
  under Subchapter G, H, or I, Chapter 54, including an interest in a
  savings trust account, prepaid tuition account, or related matching
  account, or any school-based account or bond described by Section
  28.0024(b)(2), may not be considered an asset of the person, or
  otherwise included in the person's household income or other
  financial resources, for purposes of determining the person's
  eligibility for a TEXAS grant or any other state-funded student
  financial assistance.
         (b)  The amount of exclusion under Subsection (a) of assets
  held in or the right to receive payments or benefits under a
  school-based account or bond described by Section 28.0024(b)(2),
  except a fund or plan established under Subchapter G, H, or I,
  Chapter 54, as a school-based account, is limited to the amount of
  the cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required fees for
  one academic year consisting of 30 semester credit hours charged by
  the general academic teaching institution with the highest such
  tuition and fee costs for the most recent academic year, as
  determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under
  Section 54.753.
         SECTION 3.  Section 31.0039, Human Resources Code, as
  amended by S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 31.0039.  EXCLUSION OF ASSETS IN PREPAID TUITION
  PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS. (a)  For purposes of
  determining the amount of financial assistance granted to an
  individual under this chapter for the support of dependent children
  or determining whether the family meets household income and
  resource requirements for financial assistance under this chapter,
  the commission may not consider the right to assets held in or the
  right to receive payments or benefits under:
               (1)  any fund or plan established under Subchapter G,
  H, or I, Chapter 54, Education Code, including an interest in a
  savings trust account, prepaid tuition contract, or related
  matching account; [or]
               (2)  any qualified tuition program of any state that
  meets the requirements of Section 529, Internal Revenue Code of
  1986; or
               (3)  any school-based account or bond described by
  Section 28.0024(b)(2), Education Code.
         (b)  The amount of exclusion under Subsection (a)(3) of
  assets held in or the right to receive payments or benefits under a
  school-based account or bond described by Section
  28.0024(b)(2)(C), (D), or (E), Education Code, is limited to the
  amount of the cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required
  fees for one academic year consisting of 30 semester credit hours
  charged by the general academic teaching institution with the
  highest such tuition and fee costs for the most recent academic
  year, as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
  Board under Section 54.753, Education Code.
         SECTION 4.  Section 32.02611, Human Resources Code, as
  amended by S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular
  Session, 2015, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 32.02611.  EXCLUSION OF ASSETS IN PREPAID TUITION
  PROGRAMS AND HIGHER EDUCATION SAVINGS PLANS. (a)  Except as
  provided by Subsection (b), in determining eligibility and need for
  medical assistance, the commission may not consider as assets or
  resources, to the extent applicable under federal law, a right to
  assets held in or a right to receive payments or benefits under:
               (1)  any fund or plan established under Subchapter G,
  H, or I, Chapter 54, Education Code, including an interest in a
  savings trust account, prepaid tuition contract, or related
  matching account; [or]
               (2)  any qualified tuition program of any state that
  meets the requirements of Section 529, Internal Revenue Code of
  1986; or
               (3)  any school-based account or bond described by
  Section 28.0024(b)(2), Education Code.
         (a-1)  The amount of exclusion under Subsection (a)(3) of
  assets held in or the right to receive payments or benefits under a
  school-based account or bond described by Section
  28.0024(b)(2)(C), (D), or (E), Education Code, is limited to the
  amount of the cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required
  fees for one academic year consisting of 30 semester credit hours
  charged by the general academic teaching institution with the
  highest such tuition and fee costs for the most recent academic
  year, as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
  Board under Section 54.753, Education Code.
         (b)  In determining eligibility and need for medical
  assistance for an applicant who may be eligible on the basis of the
  applicant's eligibility for medical assistance for the aged, blind,
  or disabled under 42 U.S.C. Section 1396a(a)(10), the commission
  may consider as assets or resources, to the extent applicable under
  federal law, a right to assets held in or a right to receive
  payments or benefits under any fund, account, bond, plan, or
  tuition program described by Subsection (a).
         (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the commission shall
  seek a federal waiver authorizing the commission to exclude, for
  purposes of determining the eligibility of an applicant described
  by that subsection and to the extent included under federal law, the
  right to assets held in or a right to receive payments or benefits
  under any fund, account, bond, plan, or tuition program described
  by Subsection (a) if the fund, account, bond, plan, or tuition
  program was established before the 21st birthday of the beneficiary
  of the fund, account, bond, plan, or tuition program.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Human Resources Code,
  is amended by adding Section 33.0291 to read as follows:
         Sec. 33.0291.  EXCLUSION OF SCHOOL-BASED ACCOUNTS AND
  CERTAIN BONDS. (a)  For purposes of determining whether a person
  meets family income and resource requirements for eligibility for
  the supplemental nutrition assistance program, the commission may
  not consider as income or resources a right to assets held in or a
  right to receive payments or benefits under a school-based account
  or bond described by Section 28.0024(b)(2), Education Code.
         (b)  The amount of exclusion under Subsection (a) of assets
  held in or the right to receive payments or benefits under a
  school-based account or bond described by Section
  28.0024(b)(2)(C), (D), or (E), Education Code, is limited to the
  amount of the cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required
  fees for one academic year consisting of 30 semester credit hours
  charged by the general academic teaching institution with the
  highest such tuition and fee costs for the most recent academic
  year, as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
  Board under Section 54.753, Education Code.
         SECTION 6.  If before implementing any provision of this Act
  a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
  federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
  the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
  authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
  waiver or authorization is granted.
         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, 2015.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3987 was passed by the House on May
  13, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 129, Nays 13, 2 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 3987 was passed by the Senate on May
  27, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays 2.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor