PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2416 PRINTER'S NO. 2619
No. 1852 Session of 1984
INTRODUCED BY COWELL, GALLAGHER, E. Z. TAYLOR, D. R. WRIGHT,
SIRIANNI, FATTAH, LESCOVITZ, COLAFELLA, KOSINSKI, BATTISTO,
DALEY, MARKOSEK, J. L. WRIGHT, O'DONNELL, POTT, WACHOB, COLE,
PRESTON, COY, BUNT, LASHINGER, BELOFF, DeLUCA, PETRONE,
CALTAGIRONE, PISTELLA, CIMINI, BALDWIN, GAMBLE, MILLER,
HALUSKA, FARGO, FLICK, McHALE, MICHLOVIC, MAYERNIK, DAWIDA,
RYBAK, KOWALYSHYN, HERMAN, LIVENGOOD, MERRY, VAN HORNE,
LINTON, ITKIN, EVANS, STAIRS, RUDY, TIGUE, PRATT, AFFLERBACH,
GODSHALL, STEIGHNER, SEVENTY, TELEK, JOHNSON, WOZNIAK, WOGAN,
HARPER, ZWIKL, R. C. WRIGHT, OLASZ AND DEAL, JANUARY 24, 1984
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, MARCH 12, 1984
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 7, 1963 (P.L.549, No.290), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act creating the Pennsylvania Higher
3 Education Assistance Agency; defining its powers and duties;
4 conferring powers and imposing duties on the Governor,
5 President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of
6 Representatives, Superintendent of Public Instruction and the
7 Department of Auditor General; and making appropriations,"
8 providing for the establishment of a Pennsylvania Scholars
9 Award to academically qualified graduating students of
10 secondary schools; making an appropriation; and making an
11 editorial change.
12 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
13 hereby enacts as follows:
14 Section 1. The title of the act of August 7, 1963 (P.L.549,
15 No.290), referred to as the Pennsylvania Higher Education
16 Assistance Agency Act, amended October 29, 1969 (P.L.283,
17 No.116), is amended to read:
18 AN ACT
1 Creating the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency;
2 defining its powers and duties; conferring powers and
3 imposing duties on the Governor, President Pro Tempore of the
4 Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives,
5 [Superintendent of Public Instruction] Secretary of Education
6 and the Department of Auditor General; and making
7 appropriations.
8 Section 2. Section 3(a) of the act, amended January 18, 1968
9 (1967, P.L.952, No.424), is amended to read:
10 Section 3. Governing Bodies.--(a) Such agency shall be
11 governed and all of its corporate powers exercised by a board of
12 directors which shall consist of twenty members, nineteen of
13 whom shall be appointed as hereinafter provided, and the
14 [Superintendent of Public Instruction] Secretary of Education.
15 Three members shall be appointed by the Governor, eight shall be
16 appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and eight
17 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
18 Representatives. All members shall be of full age, citizens of
19 the United States and residents of the State, and shall be
20 appointed for terms of six years each, except that of the
21 members first appointed by the Governor, one shall be appointed
22 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1965, one for a term
23 which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and one for a term which
24 shall expire on June 30, 1969, and of the members first
25 appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one shall
26 be appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1965, one
27 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and one for a
28 term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, and of the members
29 first appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
30 one shall be appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30,
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1 1965, one for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and
2 one for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969; and of the
3 five additional members to be appointed by the President Pro
4 Tempore of the Senate under this amendment, one shall be
5 appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, two
6 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1971, one for a term
7 which shall expire on June 30, 1973 and one for a term which
8 shall expire on June 30, 1975, and of the five additional
9 members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
10 Representatives under this amendment, one shall be appointed for
11 a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, two for a term which
12 shall expire on June 30, 1971, one for a term which shall expire
13 on June 30, 1973 and one for a term which shall expire on June
14 30, 1975. The eight members appointed by the President Pro
15 Tempore of the Senate shall be members of the Senate, four of
16 whom shall be of the majority party and four of the minority
17 party, and the eight members appointed by the Speaker of the
18 House of Representatives shall be members of the House of
19 Representatives, four of whom shall be of the majority party and
20 four of the minority party, and any member of the Senate or
21 House of Representatives hereafter appointed shall serve on the
22 board only so long as he is a member of the particular body of
23 the General Assembly from which he was appointed to the board,
24 in which event he shall be ineligible to continue as a member of
25 the board as a legislative appointee and a vacancy shall exist.
26 In such a case the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or the
27 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall fill the vacancy
28 for the unexpired term in the same manner as original
29 appointments. A member of the board of directors who becomes
30 ineligible to serve as a legislative appointee shall be eligible
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1 for appointment by the Governor. The board of directors shall
2 elect from its own members each year a chairman and vice
3 chairman who shall serve for terms of one year and who shall be
4 eligible for reelection for successive terms. Vacancies shall be
5 filled for the unexpired terms in the same manner as original
6 appointments. Directors shall receive no compensation for their
7 services, but shall be reimbursed for their expenses actually
8 and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of their
9 duties under this act.
10 * * *
11 Section 3. Section 4 of the act is amended by adding a
12 clause to read:
13 Section 4. Powers and Duties.--In furtherance of the
14 purposes set forth in this act, the board of directors shall
15 have the following powers:
16 * * *
17 (12) To establish a special account in the Higher Education
18 Assistance Fund to provide an annual Pennsylvania Scholars Award
19 to the most academically qualified senior in each of the
20 secondary schools of the Commonwealth in accordance with the
21 following criteria:
22 (i) Such awards shall be in the amount of one thousand
23 dollars ($1,000) and shall only be valid toward the tuition and
24 fees at an institution of higher education in Pennsylvania
25 approved by the agency. Recipients shall be full-time students
26 at the institution, as determined by the agency.
27 (ii) The amounts of the scholarship grants authorized under
28 this clause shall not be considered by the agency in computing
29 the recipient's eligibility for other grants.
30 (iii) Such scholarship grants shall be renewable up to a
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1 total of four thousand dollars ($4,000), OR FIVE THOUSAND <--
2 DOLLARS ($5,000) IN THE CASE OF FIVE-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC
3 PROGRAMS, provided the recipient maintains a satisfactory grade
4 level in the approved institution.
5 (iv) The board of directors of the agency shall promulgate
6 standards for local school district officials in determining the
7 Pennsylvania scholarship recipient.
8 Section 4. The sum of $1,000,000, or as much thereof as may
9 be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Pennsylvania Higher
10 Education Assistance Agency for the fiscal year July 1, 1984 to
11 June 30, 1985 to carry out the purposes of this act.
12 Section 5. This act shall be applicable to high school
13 seniors graduating in the class of 1984.
14 Section 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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