HCS/SS/SCS/SB 590 - This act renders several alterations to the state's higher education policy. SECTION 160.730: This act requires the Commissioner of Higher Education, the chair of the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, the Commissioner of Education, the president of the State Board of Education, and the Director of the Department of Economic Development to meet and discuss ways in which their respective departments may collaborate in order to achieve a more efficient and effective education system that more adequately prepares students for the challenges of entering the workforce. The act contains several policy objectives intended to accomplish this end. The aforementioned persons shall report jointly to the general assembly and to the Governor the actions taken by their agencies and their recommendations for policy initiatives and legislative alterations to achieve the policy goals of this act. This section is identical to the SCS/SB 580. SECTION 161.032: This act removes the current law prohibition on members of the state board of education being connected to a college or university. SECTION 172.287: Under section 172.287, RSMo, the University of Missouri annually requests an appropriation under capital improvements for a program of grants established for the engineering colleges of the university system. Currently, the aforementioned section contains a terminate date of June 30, 2007. This act seeks to extend this termination date to June 30, 2017. This section is identical to SB 679. SECTION 173.005.2(10): This act grants the Commissioner of Higher Education the authority to impose a fine on public higher education institutions that willfully disregard board policies. Such a fine shall not exceed one percent of the institution's current fiscal year state appropriation. The board shall hold such funds until such time that the institution, as determined by the commissioner of higher education, corrects the violation, at which time the board shall refund such amount to the institution. Should the commissioner determine that the institution has not redressed the violation within one year, the fine amount shall be deposited into the general revenue fund unless the institution appeals such decision to the full coordinating board, which shall have the authority to make a binding and final decision regarding the matter. Further, the act specifies that the provisions of the entire subdivision shall apply to only to public institutions, not private institutions. This section is similar to SCS/SB 857. SECTION 173.005.2(11) & SECTION 173.616: Currently under section 173.604, RSMo, the coordinating board issues certificates of approval to operate within this state to certain out-of-state public higher education institutions that meet the minimal standards of that section. This act seeks to exempt such institutions, as of July 1, 2009, from the requirements of section 173.604, RSMo. Further, the act would revoke, on July 01, 2009, all previously issued certificates granted to out-of-state public higher education institutions to operate within this state. Instead, the act directs the coordinating board to hold out-of-state public higher education institutions to criteria similar to those required of public in-state higher education institutions in order for such institutions to operate within this state. The act directs the coordinating board to promulgate rules for the implementation of this act no later than December 31, 2007. These sections are similar to SB 656 (2006). SECTION 173.125: The act requires that every public institution of higher education submit to binding dispute resolution with regard to disputes among institutions of higher education that involve jurisdictional boundaries or the use or expenditure of any state resources whatsoever, as determined by the coordinating board. In all cases, the arbitrator shall be the Commissioner of Higher Education or a designee, whose decision shall be binding on all parties. Any institution aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner may appeal the decision to the full coordinating board, which shall have the authority to make a binding and final decision regarding the matter. This section is similar to SCS/SB 857. SECTION 173.234: This act allows certain military members and their spouses and dependants to receive an educational grant to attend an institution of postsecondary education in this state. The act provides that a qualifying military member shall include any member of the U.S. military who served in the military after September 11, 2001, during a time of war, or who was a Missouri resident when first entering military service and at the time of death, illness, or injury, as provided in this act, and who died as the result of combat action, or whose death was attributable to an illness or injury sustained while serving in combat, or who became at least 80 percent disabled as the result of an illness or injury sustained in combat action after September 11, 2001. The coordinating board for higher education shall award annually up to fifty grants to eligible recipients, which shall be re-awarded annually as long as certain minimum guidelines continue to be achieved. The tuition grant shall not exceed the amount charged a Missouri resident for attendance at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In addition to the cost of tuition, the grant also includes assistance for room, board, and books. Children are eligible to receive the scholarship until age 25, and spouses are eligible until age 45. The coordinating board for higher education shall promulgate rules, including determining minimum standards of performance for a student to remain eligible for a grant under this act. The provisions of the act will expire six years from the effective date. This act is similar to SCS/SB 876 (2006), SB 572 (2006), and provisions within SB 590 (2006). SECTION 173.270 - This act allows eligible foster children to receive a waiver of tuition and fees at state-funded colleges or universities. Eligible students shall: be Missouri residents; have graduated from high school or received a GED within the last three years; have been accepted for admission at a state-funded college or university; have applied for other student financial assistance; have been in foster care under the Department of Social Services on or after one of the dates specified in the act; complete community service or public internship as required under the act; and apply to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education for the waiver. The waiver shall be renewable annually for up to a total of four years if the student remains in good academic standing. The waiver shall be used only after other sources of aid are used. No student enrolled when the act becomes effective shall be eligible for a waiver under this act. The program shall begin with incoming freshmen in the 2007 fall semester. This act is similar to SB 089 (2005). SECTIONS 174.450, 174.453, & 174.500: This act specifies that the term of office of the governors of Missouri State University shall be six years. The voting members of the board of governors serving on August 28, 2005, shall serve until the expiration of the terms for which they were appointed. For those voting members appointed after August 28, 2005, the term of office will be established in a manner where no more than three terms shall expire in a given year. If a voting member of the Board of Governors of Missouri State University is found by unanimous vote of the other governors to have moved such governor's residence from the district from which such governor was appointed, then the office of such governor shall be vacant. Should the total number of Missouri congressional districts be altered, all members of the board shall be allowed to serve the remainder of the term for which they were appointed. Should the boundaries of any congressional districts be altered in a manner that displaces a member of the board from the congressional district from which the member was appointed, the member shall be allowed to serve the remainder of the term for which the member was appointed. The act renders other technical alterations by removing the "Southwest" from Missouri State University in certain sections omitted from the name change bill last session. These sections are identical to the SCS/SB 650. SECTION 178.870. This act seeks to increase by two hundred fifty million dollars the assessed value thresholds for tax rates that may be imposed without voter approval by junior college districts. SECTION 1. The Department of Revenue shall study the fiscal implications of providing a tax deduction for higher education tuition and fee expenses for those persons earning less than $100,000 annually and report such findings to the general assembly no later than January 1, 2007. SECTION 2. The Coordinating Board for Higher Education shall provide up to twenty-five tuition grants to the surviving spouses and children of any member of the military who was killed in the line of duty and who was, at the time of enlistment and death, a citizen of Missouri. The grants will pay up to fifty percent of the survivors' tuition costs, the actual cost of books up to $500 per semester, and up to $2,000 per semester for room and board, and will continue to be awarded annually to those selected recipients who maintain certain standards of academic performance. The act delineates specific eligibility criteria for both the recipients and the higher education institutions. The coordinating board will administer the program. This section is identical to SB 572 (2006). DONALD THALHUBER