PRINTER'S NO. 760
No. 692 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY COWELL, COLAFELLA, HERMAN, BATTISTO, EVANS,
SCHULER, KOSINSKI, FOX, COY, LINTON, DALEY, STAIRS,
LESCOVITZ, D. W. SNYDER, E. Z. TAYLOR, LANGTRY, ITKIN,
KUKOVICH, NOYE, CAWLEY, JOHNSON, PRESTON, J. L. WRIGHT,
VROON, FEE, PRESSMANN, DOMBROWSKI, GIGLIOTTI, CAPPABIANCA,
PISTELLA, LETTERMAN, DEMPSEY, MAINE, ROBINSON, MAIALE,
MARKOSEK, VAN HORNE, SEMMEL, NAHILL, JOSEPHS, REBER, HALUSKA,
TANGRETTI, TRELLO, CARLSON, HERSHEY, PETRARCA, DeLUCA,
WOZNIAK, SAURMAN, FLICK, MICHLOVIC, JAROLIN, OLIVER,
STEIGHNER, McHALE, FARGO, MORRIS, MELIO, CORRIGAN, HARPER,
MICOZZIE, STUBAN, BELARDI, LEVDANSKY, WOGAN, CLYMER, STABACK,
CIVERA, THOMAS, GRUPPO, OLASZ, BELFANTI, BUSH, BUNT, RAYMOND,
McVERRY, LAUGHLIN, HUGHES, SALOOM AND KASUNIC, MARCH 7, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 7, 1989
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:
1 An Act
2 Creating the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency;
3 defining its powers and duties; conferring powers and
4 imposing duties on the Governor, President Pro Tempore of the
5 Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives,
6 [Superintendent of Public Instruction] Secretary of Education
7 and the Department of Auditor General; and making
8 appropriations.
9 Section 2. Section 3(a) of the act, amended January 18, 1968
10 (1967 P.L.952, No.424), is amended to read:
11 Section 3. Governing Bodies.--(a) Such agency shall be
12 governed and all of its corporate powers exercised by a board of
13 directors which shall consist of twenty members, nineteen of
14 whom shall be appointed as hereinafter provided, and the
15 [Superintendent of Public Instruction] Secretary of Education.
16 Three members shall be appointed by the Governor, eight shall be
17 appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and eight
18 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
19 Representatives. All members shall be of full age, citizens of
20 the United States and residents of the State, and shall be
21 appointed for terms of six years each, except that of the
22 members first appointed by the Governor, one shall be appointed
23 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1965, one for a term
24 which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and one for a term which
25 shall expire on June 30, 1969, and of the members first
26 appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one shall
27 be appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1965, one
28 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and one for a
29 term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, and of the members
30 first appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
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1 one shall be appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30,
2 1965, one for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1967, and
3 one for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969; and of the
4 five additional members to be appointed by the President Pro
5 Tempore of the Senate under this amendment, one shall be
6 appointed for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, two
7 for a term which shall expire on June 30, 1971, one for a term
8 which shall expire on June 30, 1973 and one for a term which
9 shall expire on June 30, 1975, and of the five additional
10 members to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of
11 Representatives under this amendment, one shall be appointed for
12 a term which shall expire on June 30, 1969, two for a term which
13 shall expire on June 30, 1971, one for a term which shall expire
14 on June 30, 1973 and one for a term which shall expire on June
15 30, 1975. The eight members appointed by the President Pro
16 Tempore of the Senate shall be members of the Senate, four of
17 whom shall be of the majority party and four of the minority
18 party, and the eight members appointed by the Speaker of the
19 House of Representatives shall be members of the House of
20 Representatives, four of whom shall be of the majority party and
21 four of the minority party, and any member of the Senate or
22 House of Representatives hereafter appointed shall serve on the
23 board only so long as he is a member of the particular body of
24 the General Assembly from which he was appointed to the board,
25 in which event he shall be ineligible to continue as a member of
26 the board as a legislative appointee and a vacancy shall exist.
27 In such a case the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or the
28 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall fill the vacancy
29 for the unexpired term in the same manner as original
30 appointments. A member of the board of directors who becomes
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1 ineligible to serve as a legislative appointee shall be eligible
2 for appointment by the Governor. The board of directors shall
3 elect from its own members each year a chairman and vice
4 chairman who shall serve for terms of one year and who shall be
5 eligible for reelection for successive terms. Vacancies shall be
6 filled for the unexpired terms in the same manner as original
7 appointments. Directors shall receive no compensation for their
8 services, but shall be reimbursed for their expenses actually
9 and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of their
10 duties under this act.
11 * * *
12 Section 3. Section 4 of the act is amended by adding a
13 clause to read:
14 Section 4. Powers and Duties.--In furtherance of the
15 purposes set forth in this act, the board of directors shall
16 have the following powers:
17 * * *
18 (13) To establish a special account in the Higher Education
19 Assistance Fund to provide an annual Pennsylvania Scholars Award
20 to the most academically qualified senior in each of the
21 secondary schools of the Commonwealth in accordance with the
22 following criteria:
23 (i) Such awards shall be in the amount of one thousand five
24 hundred dollars ($1,500) and shall only be valid toward the
25 tuition and fees at an institution of higher education in
26 Pennsylvania approved by the agency. Recipients shall be full-
27 time students at the institution, as determined by the agency.
28 (ii) The amounts of the scholarship grants authorized under
29 this clause shall not be considered by the agency in computing
30 the recipient's eligibility for other grants.
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1 (iii) Such scholarship grants shall be renewable up to a
2 total of six thousand dollars ($6,000), or seven thousand five
3 hundred dollars ($7,500) in the case of five-year undergraduate
4 academic programs, provided the recipient maintains a
5 satisfactory grade level in the approved institution.
6 (iv) The board of directors of the agency shall promulgate
7 standards for local school district officials in determining the
8 Pennsylvania scholarship recipient.
9 Section 4. The sum of $1,285,000, or as much thereof as may
10 be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the Pennsylvania Higher
11 Education Assistance Agency for the fiscal year July 1, 1989, to
12 June 30, 1990, to carry out the purposes of this act.
13 Section 5. This act shall be applicable to high school
14 seniors graduating in the class of 1989 and each year
15 thereafter.
16 Section 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
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