Missouri Senate

Perfected

STUDENTS' RIGHT TO KNOW ACT

This act establishes the Students' Right to Know Act.

Beginning January 1, 2022, the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (DHEWD) shall annually collect and compile information as specified in the act to help high school students make more informed decisions about their futures and ensure such students are adequately aware of the costs of four-year college and alternative career paths. The document shall be available to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for distribution to public school guidance counselors by October 15th each year. The information provided by the public institutions is also required to be available on the website of the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

(Section 161.625 and 173.035)

MISSOURI EDUCATION SAVINGS PROGRAM

Under this act, the Missouri Education Savings Program is renamed the Missouri Education Program.

This act modifies the definition of "eligible educational institution" to include all eligible educational institutions, as defined in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, rather than just institutions of postsecondary education. (Sections 166.400, 166.410, 166.415, 166.420, 166.425, 166.435, 166.440, and 166.456, and 166.502)

These provisions are substantially similar to provisions contained in HB 627 (2021), SS/SCS/SBs 55, 23, & 25 (2021) and are similar to provisions contained in SCS/HCS/HB 1540 (2020), HCS/HB 2068 (2020) and HCS/HB 2261 (2020).

SHOW ME CHILD DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT ACT

This act establishes the Show Me Child Development Account Act.

Upon receiving notification of a live birth, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall notify the State Treasurer and transmit data related to the child necessary to determine whether the child was born after January 1, 2022, and was either a resident of the state at the time of birth or was an adoptee whose adoptive parent was a resident of the state at the time of entry of the decree of adoption.

Upon receiving such data and determining whether the child qualifies, the State Treasurer shall notify the parent of each qualified child, including an explanation of the program and the opportunity for the parent to opt out of the program. Qualified children are automatically enrolled unless excluded by the parent.

This act also establishes the Missouri Children's Development Account Program Fund to provide scholarship grants and to pay for the expenses of the Treasurer related to the administration of the Show Me Child Development Account Act.

Each day, the Treasurer shall apportion interest or other investment income and shall deduct administrative costs in the same manner as such apportionment and deductions are made from the Treasurer's General Operations Fund. The Treasurer shall then deposit an identified portion of the daily interest receipts, not to exceed .35% of the total average daily fund balance within the State Treasury, into the Program Fund for coverage of administrative and banking expenses and issuing scholarship grants.

Scholarship grants shall be distributed to individual scholarship accounts established for each qualified child, or to a master account for the purpose of distributing funds to such individual accounts. To the extent allowed under federal law, such funds shall not be counted for purposes of eligibility for public assistance. Funds in such accounts may be used for the child's qualified higher education expenses, as defined in the act, until the child reaches age 30, when the funds shall revert to the Program Fund.

The Treasurer may receive additional contributions to the Program Fund and may make additional grants to eligible children for qualified higher education expenses. (Section 166.461)

These provisions are similar to provisions contained in HB 627 (2021), SB 30 (2021), SCS/SB 55, 23, & 25 (2021), SB 251 (2021), SCS/SB 296 (2021), HCS/HB 349 (2021), SCS/SB 581 (2020), and HB 2068 (2020). (Section 166.461)

REDUCED RESTRICTION ON DEALING IN REAL PROPERTY

This act allows universities to subdivide, sell, or convey title to land located within a university campus. (Section 172.020)

REMOVING TUITION CAP RESTRICTION

This act authorizes community colleges and public universities to exceed the percentage change limitations for tuition currently established in current law after July 1, 2022. Public institutions of higher education that utilize differentiated tuition shall notify DHEWD and shall no longer utilize required course fees. (Section 173.1003)

These provisions are similar to SB 601 (2021).

ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSE CREDIT

This act requires public institutions of higher learning to adopt and implement policies, as outlined in the act, that will give undergraduate course credit to entering freshman students for each advanced placement (AP) examination upon which such student achieves a score of three or higher. The Coordinating Board for Higher Education shall consult with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to identify correlations between subject matter and content in courses and examinations in the AP program, and shall make such information public on the Board's website.

(Section 173.1352)

This act includes similar language as found in HB 2151 (2020), HB 355 (2021), HCS/HB 627 (2021), HB 908 (2021) HCS for HB 856 (2021) and HB 1208 (2021).

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

This act designates Southeast Missouri State University as an institution with a statewide mission in the visual and performing arts, computer science, and cybersecurity.

The act requires members of the Board of Governors for SEMO to be appointed as described in the act.

These provisions are substantially similar to SB 397 (2021) and are similar to HB 2151 (2020) and HB 1121 (2019).

(Sections 174.281 and 174.453)

NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

This act designates Northwest Missouri State University as an institution with a statewide mission in educator preparation, emergency and disaster management, and profession-based learning.

Current law provides that public institutions of higher education charged with a statewide mission shall be governed by a board of governors as described in current law. Under this act, Northwest Missouri State University shall continue to be governed by its board of regents. (Sections 174.283 and 174.450)

These provisions are identical to SB 376 (2021).

MATT KIMMINAU