[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1688 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1688
To help provide relief to State education budgets during a recovering
economy, to help fulfill the Federal mandate to provide higher
educational opportunities for Native American Indians, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 12, 2019
Ms. DeGette (for herself, Mr. Tipton, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New
York, Ms. Moore, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Young, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Crow, Mr.
Cole, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Kind, Ms. Gabbard, and Mr. Lujan) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education
and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To help provide relief to State education budgets during a recovering
economy, to help fulfill the Federal mandate to provide higher
educational opportunities for Native American Indians, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Native American Indian Education
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Nontribal colleges that serve Native American Indian
students have a valuable supplemental role to that provided by
tribally controlled community colleges in making available
educational opportunities to Native American Indian students.
(2) Some 4-year colleges serve Native American Indian
students by providing tuition-free education, with the support
of the State in which the institutions are located, as mandated
by Federal statute, to hundreds of Native American Indian
students in fulfillment of a condition under which the United
States provided land and facilities for colleges to a State or
college.
(3) The value of the Native American Indian student tuition
waiver benefits contributed by these colleges and the States
that support them today far exceeds the value of the original
grant of land and facilities.
(4) The ongoing financial burden of meeting this Federal
mandate to provide tuition-free education to Native American
Indian students is no longer equitably shared among the States
and colleges because it does not distinguish between Native
American Indian students who are residents of the State or of
another State.
(5) Native American Indian student tuition waiver benefits
are now at risk of being terminated by severe budget
constraints being experienced by these colleges and the States
which support them.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that Federal
funding is provided in order to relieve constrained State education
budgets and to support and sustain the longstanding Federal mandate
requiring colleges and States to waive, in certain circumstances,
tuition charges for Native American Indian students admitted to an
undergraduate college program, including the waiver of tuition charges
for Native American Indian students who are not residents of the State
in which the college is located.
SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE.
Part A of title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1057 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 319 the following:
``SEC. 319A. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL HIGHER EDUCATION MANDATE.
``(a) Amount of Payment.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), for
fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary
shall pay to any eligible college an amount equal to the
charges for tuition for such year for all Native American
Indian students who--
``(A) are not residents of the State in which the
college is located; and
``(B) are enrolled in the college for the academic
year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year.
``(2) Eligible colleges.--For purposes of this section, an
eligible college is any institution of higher education serving
Native American Indian students that provides tuition-free
education as mandated by Federal statute, with the support of
the State in which it is located, to Native American Indian
students in fulfillment of a condition under which the college
or State received its original grant of land and facilities
from the United States.
``(3) Limitation.--The amount paid to any eligible college
for each fiscal year under paragraph (1) may not exceed the
amount equal to the charges for tuition for all Native American
Indian students of that college who were not residents of the
State in which the college is located and who were enrolled in
the college for academic year 2019-2020.
``(b) Treatment of Payment.--Any amounts received by an eligible
college under this section shall be treated as a reimbursement from the
State in which the college is located, and shall be considered as
provided in fulfillment of any Federal mandate upon the State to admit
Native American Indian students free of charge of tuition.
``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to relieve any State from any mandate the State may have
under Federal law to reimburse a college for each academic year--
``(1) with respect to Native American Indian students
enrolled in the college who are not residents of the State in
which the college is located, any amount of charges for tuition
for such students for such academic year that exceeds the
amount received under this section for such academic year; and
``(2) with respect to Native American Indian students
enrolled in the college who are residents of the State in which
the college is located, an amount equal to the charges for
tuition for such students for such academic year.
``(d) Supplement, Not Supplant.--Funds under this section shall be
used to supplement, not supplant, any Federal or non-Federal funds that
would otherwise be used for Native American Indian students.
``(e) Definition of Native American Indian Students.--In this
section, the term `Native American Indian students' includes reference
to the term `Indian pupils' as that term has been utilized in Federal
statutes imposing a mandate upon any college or State to provide
tuition-free education to Native American Indian students in
fulfillment of a condition under which the college or State received
its original grant of land and facilities from the United States.
``(f) Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated, and
there are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appropriated--
``(1) $19,700,000 to carry out subsection (a) for fiscal
year 2020; and
``(2) such sums as are necessary to carry out such
subsection for each subsequent fiscal year.''.
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