FIRST REGULAR SESSION
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES DAVIS (Sponsor), EMERY, COOPER AND SCHOELLER (Co-sponsors).
0886L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 173, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to a scholarship program for full-time mothers.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 173, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 173.263, to read as follows:
173.263. 1. There is hereby established the "Full-time Mother Scholarship Bonus Program", and any moneys appropriated by the general assembly for this program shall be used to provide scholarships for Missouri residents to attend a Missouri college or university of their choice under the provisions of this section.
2. Beginning January 1, 2010, scholarships awarded under this program shall be in the amount of six hundred dollars per year per eligible student, with the amount of scholarship to increase each subsequent year in an amount equivalent to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) or successor index as published by the U.S. Department of Labor or its successor agency, in years in which there is an increase in such index.
3. Persons eligible to receive scholarships under this section shall be mothers, with a child or children fifteen years of age or younger, who have elected to stay home to raise their own child or children. Scholarships received under this section shall only apply to tuition and books required for course work and shall not be used for room and board, registration expenses, or other administrative fees.
4. A student is not eligible for a scholarship under this section if she:
(1) Claims a dependent care deduction on her income tax return, or on a cafeteria or flex spending plan; or
(2) Has income from employment that exceeds one thousand dollars per year.
5. A scholarship recipient shall not receive a cash refund for any scholarship moneys not used; however, any scholarship not used shall remain on account until it is used by the recipient for future education.
6. The coordinating board for higher education shall be the administrative agency for the implementation of the program established in this section, and shall:
(1) Promulgate reasonable rules and regulations for the exercise of its functions and the effectuation of the purposes of this section;
(2) Prescribe the form and the time and method of awarding full-time mother scholarships, and shall supervise the processing thereof; and
(3) Select qualified recipients to receive full-time mother scholarships, make such awards to qualified recipients, and determine the manner and method of payment to the recipient.
7. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2009, shall be invalid and void.
8. Under section 23.253, RSMo, of the Missouri Sunset Act:
(1) The provisions of the new program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of this section unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset twelve years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) This section shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.
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